Right and Wrong
by CyanCosine
Summary: Latios has led a relatively carefree life in the Epyhlei region for years, and after meeting a Latias it seems life is complete for the two Eons, but as outside forces threaten to tear them apart and make them question what is right and what is wrong, will their relationship break under the strain? Or will their friendship develop into something more? Influenced by Mystery Dungeon.
1. Chapter 1: Mist on the Water

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, or Nintendo, or anything of the sorts.

Rated T for language and violence. This story *might* become (very) M rated in the future, depending on feedback and whether I think I can execute it properly. You have been warned.

Cover image by TheModerator (check out his stories too!).

Sooo...hi.

I'm not usually the kind of person who creates content for other people to see, I'm more of the viewer. Still, boredom and inspiration can have some interesting results when put together, and here I am. After sifting through some stories on the site, I've figured out what I like and don't like and I'm gonna try my best to put the good things together in a hopefully entertaining way. This is the first story I've written, and I honestly don't have much of a clue as to what I'm doing. This is a bit of a crazed experiment for me, just to see how things go. That, and it passes the time well.

The story was heavily inspired by two things, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series of games, and some of the stories on the site. The Mystery dungeon games had awesome story and plot twists that I hope to match, and I also like the fact that it takes place away from the normal regions (Kanto, Hoenn, etc.) and in it's own area where there are only Pokémon, no humans. It's led me to think of an entirely new region, by the name of Epyhlei (Epi-ley), that features Pokémon from all regions except Unova (I can't even name the starters from that region :\ ). There's a huge abundance of Latios/Latias stories, but most of them focus on the two from Altomare. I wanted to step out of the boundary, and try something unique. The Lati in this story are completely separate. Also, in some specific fanfics, I like the way the Lati are portrayed and detailed writing styles are something to highlight. I'd like to do the same but with a few personal touches.

Well, that's all for now, hope you enjoy!

* * *

_-Mist on the Water-_

**Somewhere above the Epyhlei Region...**

_This is getting embarrassing. Where is that damned lake?_

Latios wasn't usually one to get lost. Epyhlei was a big place, almost three times the size of Hoenn, but despite this Latios had called the region home for over the past twenty years and had always thought to himself that he would be able to find his way around with a blindfold on, any time, any day.

Apparently not.

Nature did its best to make sure it was impossible for this bird-of-prey to ever lose his bearings in the sky, equipping him with a pinpoint accurate internal compass and eyes several times as powerful as a Staraptor's. Still, Latios had been flying an irregular circuit for the past fifteen minutes. He was understandably frustrated.

To be fair, Latios was soaring over a storm like he hadn't seen in years. There was an overcast of almost purple clouds, with constant flashes of blue-white occasionally appearing within the seemingly never-ending veil of water droplets suspended before him. Trying to find Lake Dewpoint through the clouds was like trying to see the water at the bottom of a well at night. Not that Latios really needed his eyes, he easily remembered the location of the body of water. He had been going there almost every night for a drink and occasionally a rinse before heading off to sleep. The problem was that the constantly shifting winds pushing him around were just enough to disorient him and cause him confusion as to where he was, and where he was heading.

Latios considered just flying under the clouds, giving him an unobstructed view of the landscape, but concluded that it probably wasn't worth the risk. It's not that he was afraid of lightning, in fact, he rather enjoyed the spectacle. It was the thunder that he didn't like. The booming was uncomfortably loud where he was, a few hundred feet above the clouds. Below, he worried it would become unbearable. Not only that, but there was also the risk of getting hit by lightning while passing through the clouds. He would probably survive the hit, as unpleasant as that would be, but he feared his sensitive eardrums might get blown out by the noise that followed. Without his hearing, he might as well be dead.

Another ten minutes passed, with Latios accomplishing nothing short of flying another half dozen circles. Both physically and mentally exhausted, he figured the best option would likely be to skip this part of his schedule and go straight to sleep.

After a quick midair u-turn Latios' preferred place of residence came into view, Kivlo Mountain, usually abbreviated to just "Kivlo". The top was just barely visible as it was practically within the clouds, but Latios could still make out the shape and flew towards it at a brisk pace.

Old folk tales tell that Kivlo was once a volcano, which would explain the fairly large and slightly concave surface that replaced the peak most mountains had. As long as it didn't suddenly erupt, Latios didn't really care. Kivlo wasn't very tall when it came to mountains, it only just reached Epyhlei's usually low cloud level but nevertheless it was still the tallest point in Epyhlei. This height was low enough for vegetation to flourish on the surface of the mountain's crater. This resulted in a garden of sorts growing on the top which was relatively free of wildlife except for the odd few flying Pokémon that roosted there every once in a while. Being close to the clouds, the top of Kivlo was often shrouded with light fog and didn't provide much of a view.

It was the perfect home, and Latios loved every bit of it. The altitude, the isolation, the plant life and even the fog which he found calming for reasons even he himself didn't understand. It was a great place to take a rest and relax at the end of the day. Unfortunately it didn't look like he'd get much sleep tonight with the constant sound of thunder that was repeatedly assaulting his ears.

Latios reached the mountain in about two minutes of it coming into his view. Most of the lightning was happening near the bottom of the clouds, so Latios deemed it safe to descend. He straightened out his wings and neck in an attempt to make himself as aerodynamic as possible before dipping into the clouds at astonishing speed, circling around the mountain top.

Seeing as the lake was inaccessible at the moment, Latios hoped that this high speed maneuver would give his feathery down a satisfactory cleaning by taking advantage of the moisture in the clouds. It wouldn't be as effective or nearly as fun as swimming through the lake but it would have to do. A few loops later he figured he was plenty soaked and dived towards the centre of the garden on the topmost part of the mountain. Just before reaching the surface, Latios angled his wings slightly upward and shifted his body so that within barely a second he halted his descent and was floating a few feet above the ground all in one swift motion, strongly rustling the leaves of any plant life nearby. Maybe it was a bit much, but he loved feeling the forces that came with these sorts of extreme changes in acceleration. It was also good for blowing away some of the fog around him so he could see a bit better.

He took a moment to survey his surroundings, taking advantage of the fog he had cleared. For the most part everything was as it was earlier that day, in the morning when he woke up. Though in the morning the air was much more clear, there had been few clouds and whatever clouds were present took to an altitude that was higher than the mountain. Unlike now, where the whole mountain top was engulfed in a dense fog that reduced visibility to a less-than-preferable level, minus the small area he had cleared.

Latios briefly pondered how this whole storm came to be. It sort of just happened out of nowhere. The skies were almost clear at the beginning of the day, then a few clouds began collecting late in the afternoon, and by evening it was raining so hard you would think Lugia himself had sneezed. This was pretty unusual for Epyhlei, where the weather was normally rather unvaried. The skies were usually partly cloudy and maybe clear on some odd days.

Latios wasn't worried about the fact that there was a storm going on. Storms did happen, but they were few and far between. What worried him was that this was the fourth one within the span of two weeks. Very abnormal for the region.

Latios' train of thought was ended when his instinct reminded him that he was thirsty. Having not been to the lake, he was still in need of a drink. He recalled that there was a small ditch near the edge of the garden that often filled with rainwater during times of inclement weather, creating a small pond. Latios scanned the area around him but even with his potent eyesight wasn't able to spot the body of water through the fog. This wasn't much of a problem for him though, as his visual sweep of his surroundings quickly oriented and told him where he was. He knew the garden well enough to deduct that the pond should be just off to his left.

Latios used his psychic to propel himself in said direction with a controlled speed, being careful to avoid trees and thick shrubbery. If he were to fly any faster these objects could come into his view more rapidly than he could maneuver away from them, and he didn't want to flatten his snout. That's not to say Latios was going slowly, he still flew faster than the top speed of most flying Pokémon and reached his destination within a matter of seconds.

Sure enough, the indentation had collected plenty of water during the storm. In fact, it was overflowing, and the excess ran out of the pond and elsewhere into the garden.

Content that he would finally satisfy his thirst, Latios gradually slowed down as he came to the edge of the water instead of abruptly stopping like he usually did. The last thing he wanted to do was to blow all of the water out of the pond with the gust of wind that he would inevitably create if he stopped too suddenly.

Latios stopped at the water's edge, sending several small ripples through the water. The pond wasn't very large, maybe two metres in diameter at most and barely half a metre deep, but it was enough.

Latios unfolded his arms from his body before tilting his head down towards the water's surface to take a drink. Latios usually kept his arms unfolded whenever he didn't plan on doing any high speed flying. Somehow it made him feel more civilized and he thought the look suited him better whenever speed wasn't necessary.

The water wasn't great, a bit too salty for Latios' tastes. But when thirsty any water is good water, and as such he took a generously large sip. His thirst quenched, he took a moment to observe his slightly distorted reflection.

Latios would never mention it, but he was secretly very proud of his appearance. Dignified and majestic, yet fearsome and powerful at the same time. He was covered in a pattern of fine blue feathers of just the right hue, matching his favourite colour. Latios was unsure whether his favourite colour was blue because that was his body's colour, or if it was just a coincidence. Either way he wasn't about to complain. The feathers that weren't blue were white, and in his opinion white went well with everything.

The only other colour on him was red, the colour of his eyes and the symbol on his chest.

For whatever reason, the blue feathers that covered most of Latios' lower body shifted to red and formed a triangular symbol in the middle of his chest. The symbol looked almost like an upward pointing arrow, appearing as a slightly isosceles triangle with it's base wedged upward to about the triangle's midpoint.

What it's purpose was or what it meant was beyond him, but Latios thought having a simple sign to associate himself with was nice. It was something like a personal signature to him, he had even carved it into a flat skyward facing stone that lay somewhere near the middle of the garden to signal that this was his area. Not that he declared ownership, or that this garden belonged to him. He really only slept here and other Pokémon could come and go as they pleased. In fact, he usually welcomed whatever company came by. It was more of a sort of "Latios was here" kind of gesture. Though the symbol was usually plainly visible to him from the sky, he hadn't seen it during his previous flight with all of the clouds obscuring the area.

Latios let out an involuntary yawn. Normally he would be asleep by now, and thought that he should probably get to it sometime soon.

Just as he turned his head to leave the pond, he spied a couple pecha berries growing on a bush near the runoff water flowing out of the pond. Latios figured one berry couldn't hurt, and levitated over to the bush and plucked one, using both his arms to grasp it. Another nice aspect of the garden was that there was plenty of assorted fruit should he ever feel the need for a snack.

Latios flew over to a nearby tree and lay down beside it, placing the pecha berry in front of his snout so that he could tuck in his arms in order to lie more comfortably and still be able to eat. He moved his head forward and took a bite out of the berry, savouring the sweetness as he chewed. Another bite and the fruit was gone. The only downside of pecha berries was that they were hollow, so there wasn't much to eat. Still, the taste made it well worth it.

Another yawn, and Latios was convinced that now would most likely be the best time to doze off.

The storm had subsided, but only just. Latios could still very clearly hear the thunderous booming of lightning every minute or so, and highly doubted that he would get much sleep any time soon. Still, he lay his head down on the grass and closed his eyes, willing to give it his best effort.

Despite these thoughts, it only took a mere fifteen minutes for Latios to fade into his subconscious and detach his mind from his surroundings. He was fast asleep.

* * *

Well, was it worth the time it took to read? Feel free to leave a review, any feedback is welcome and really appreciated. And don't be afraid to say anything negative, as long as it's constructive. Let me know if you want this to continue or not! Keep in mind these first three chapters serve as an introduction with the purpose of setting up the rest of the story. Chapter 4 is where things really pick up.


	2. Chapter 2: Through the Eyes of Another

First of all, my sincerest thank you to anyone who takes the time to review (or even reads the story to begin with!). Rest assured, I'll try and take any feedback into account.

Now, without any further ado, chapter two!

* * *

_-Through the Eyes of Another-_

Everything was black. Not dark, but completely black.

Latios was in some sort of large and empty space. There was no floor, walls or ceiling. In every direction he turned there was absolutely nothing. As if he had been removed from existence. In fact, he would have doubted his own existence had he not looked down at himself to make sure he was still there.

Suddenly, a series of lines began materializing in front of him. The lines were a pure white, and emanated a slight bluish glow around them. The lines came together and interlaced into all sorts of convoluted shapes and designs, before settling on a somewhat triangular design.

Latios stared at the symbol for a few seconds, baffled as to what could possibly be going on. The sign looked familiar to him, he had seen it before...somewhere. But where?

The answer came to him almost immediately, and he tilted his head down to take a look at the red mark etched into his chest. The same symbol.

The floating lines were strange enough, but this was beginning to become unsettling to him.

"What? How in the..." The situation was beyond understanding, and Latios was beyond words.

As he looked back up from his chest, things only got stranger. Now he was completely encircled by a dozen or so assorted symbols. Each one revolved around him, except for his own, which remained still. They were all unique from each other and he didn't recognize any of them.

As the symbols shifted around, some of them positioned behind his, overlapping the two and producing a new symbol for a few seconds before continuing to float around and letting another symbol take its place.

This cycle repeated a few times, before one symbol in particular merged with his. As soon as the two overlapped, all other symbols abruptly stopped their choreography and faded away.

Latios again stared at the sign, absolutely dumbstruck and unsure of what to do next. He was afraid to move, worried that any action could possibly trigger another spectacle, or something even more bizarre.

After a small amount of time passed, Latios gave up on waiting and figured it was probably safe enough to resume movement. He slowly made his way closer to the symbol, about a metre away, not daring to take his eyes off it.

Latios quickly regretted his decision. About halfway there the symbol suddenly pulsated and began to glow with an increasing intensity. Everything was rapidly fading to white. It was so bright he worried that he would go blind, and promptly shut his eyes. This seemed have no effect whatsoever, as even with his eyes closed he could still see the light, and it was only getting stronger.

The white haze soon enveloped his entire field of view, and there was a moment of panic as Latios thought he had lost his sight for good. He tried looking left, then right, blinked a few times, shook his head, but it didn't make a difference. Everything remained completely blank.

After few demoralizing seconds, Latios' vision began to return. The white gradually dissipated, and soon he was able to make out a several shapes that seemed to be travelling past him. Or was it him that was moving? Despite the confusing phenomenon happening to his eyes, his other senses remained unchanged throughout the whole process. He could tell that he was still, yet what he was seeing now told him otherwise. This conflict of the senses didn't add up correctly in his brain and he was beginning to get a headache.

More details began to emerge, and with them Latios was able to make more conclusions as to what he was looking at. The shapes he was flying past appeared to be assorted trees and shrubbery, and judging by how many he saw he was flying through some sort of forest during midday. It didn't take long for his view to become perfectly clear, as if he were looking at them normally with his own eyes.

Latios tried to shift his eyes to better survey his surroundings yet his view refused to change, even as he physically felt his eyes move. It was as if the images he was seeing were being projected directly to his brain rather than being received by his own eyesight. His headache got worse.

This was proving to be a bit much to take in all at once. Everything was just so bizarre, he thought he might pass out soon.

_What in the hell is-_

"Huh!? Who said that?" Before he could finish his mental outburst the thought was cut off by another voice, only adding to Latios' dismay at the current situation.

The voice was one of alarm and a bit like his own, albeit slightly higher pitched. More feminine sounding. Even stranger, it seemed to have come from him, as if he had said it himself. Only he had kept his mouth shut the entire time.

Almost immediately after the words were said it looked to him like he was decelerating, the scenery was passing him more slowly, and he soon came to a halt.

After stopping, his view swerved to one side, then the other. As if he had moved his head, but he was sure he hadn't.

"Where are you?" The voice spoke again.

His view moved to slightly behind him, about as far back as he could see moving only his neck. As this happened, he managed to catch a glimpse of the end of his wing.

Last time he checked, he wasn't red.

The shape was nearly identical, but the colour was a dead giveaway. If it wasn't for fact that his feathers had suddenly transferred to the other side of the visual spectrum, he may not have even noticed a difference. His head throbbed even worse still.

At this point Latios was convinced he had gone insane. He was about to yell out of blatant confusion when suddenly he felt like he had just he had just hit a stone wall face first and split his head open.

Everything in his view instantly disappeared and went black, and he could feel that he was now lying on his backside.

His eyes were shut, the cause of the blackness. As he opened them the first thing he saw was a very concerned looking Swellow, looking down at him from atop the branch of the same tree he was lying under.

"Hey, finally, you're awake. You alright?"

Latios immediately turned his head and looked at his wing, relieved to see it was still blue.

_Oh, it was just a dream._

He was thankful to know that all of the outrageous imagery that he just saw was probably nothing more than his imagination messing with him. Still...it did feel oddly real...

Latios looked around and saw that this was about the same place he had fallen asleep last night. Everything was as he left it apart from the weather, which was now clear and sunny, and a few stones that lay next to where his head was when he awoke. The Swellow must have been dropping them on him to try and wake him up, which would explain the headache he felt in the dream. One of the stones was substantially larger than the rest, and judging by the pain resonating through his forehead it was probably the one that dealt the final blow to wake him up. It didn't hurt tremendously, but it wasn't exactly pleasant either.

Latios lifted his arm up over his head and rubbed the area where he had been hit. The pain mildly increased as his arm made contact, and he lowered his arm to see if there was any blood. To his slight surprise, the white feathers on the underside of his arm had no staining whatsoever. It probably wasn't as bad as he thought, then.

Still, this didn't make Latios any more welcoming to the fact that the Swellow had just been dropping rocks on his head in an effort to awaken him. He didn't like it when he woke by unnatural causes, and getting hit on the head was not a very good way to start the day. Needless to say, he was slightly agitated.

Latios threw himself off the ground and flew up near the branch where the Swellow was resting with such speed that the air currents he created almost made the bird lose his balance and fall, but the Swellow was able to correct himself and remain where he was. Within a moment they were face to face and not more than a few centimetres away from each other. The Swellow's facial expression changed to one of determination, like he wasn't willing to give up his ground despite Latios' attempt to intimidate.

"You know, it isn't very wise to wake a lying dragon that could tear you in half in an instant. Especially like this." Perhaps he had overdone it a bit, but Latios wanted to send a clear message that he didn't approve of the Swellow's actions.

"Hey, don't you get mad at me! You looked like you were about to have a fit over there," the Swellow countered, before breaking into a wide grin.

"And you can try to look as big and scary as you want, but I know the pup you really are."

With this, Latios couldn't help but loosen up a bit. Swellow was the first Pokémon he met when he first came to Epyhlei, and over the course of a few years they knew each other better than themselves. Swellow was right, Latios wouldn't hurt anyone without a good reason unless they were prey or providing a threat, of which Swellow was neither.

Latios moved back about a metre and gave Swellow some breathing room.

"Besides," Swellow continued, "It's almost noon, you're really letting yourself go."

Latios turned his head skywards and noted that the sun was almost directly overhead. It was hours past the time he'd usually be awake.

"Alright fine, but did you have to drop rocks on me?" Latios rubbed his head again.

"Like I said, you looked like you were right and ready to have some sort of fit, thrashing about and turning your head every which way. Even managed to flip yourself over."

Well, that would explain why he woke lying on his back.

"I tried shouting at first and that didn't do a thing. I was gonna peck you but I didn't want to be too close in the event you actually happened to wake up. You can have a bit of a quick temper. What happened anyway? Bad dream?"

Latios considered this. It wasn't necessarily a nightmare, but it was such a peculiar experience that he couldn't really find words to describe it any other way.

"Yeah, I...I suppose you could say that." he answered.

"Good! Glad it was nothing." Swellow said with a cheery look.

Latios found it difficult to stay angry at him. He was a good friend, and something about his attitude was always uplifting. Latios' hostility had dissipated in no time, and he began talking with a bit more enthusiasm in his voice.

"So, what brings you here?"

Latios wasn't very accustomed to seeing Swellow in the earlier hours of the day, though he often showed up in the afternoon hoping to find some way to pass the time.

"Food, what else? This place has some nice berries you won't find in the forest. I think I'll go off to look for some. I haven't actually ate today yet."

"I think the east side has some good berry bushes growing, try around somewhere there."

"Will do. Take care!"

With that, Swellow took off from his branch and set off in said direction, leaving Latios to his own thoughts.

Was that really a dream? Was he really going to believe that? Dreams could sometimes seem disturbingly real, but this was something else. It certainly didn't feel like he was recalling a dream, it felt more like a memory of sorts. As if he were actually there.

And where did those symbols come from? He was sure he had never seen any of them, with the exception of the one on his chest. Where did his mind get the imagery?

Strangest of all to him was the whole ordeal with his eyes. It was as if he had been watching a movie, from the first-person view of one of the characters. He had no control of where he was looking, and his perspective was changing as if someone else was controlling it. And then the voice...and the red...and the...

Suddenly, it hit him. He hadn't been seeing through his eyes at all.

He had sight-shared with a Latias.

He always thought that sight-sharing was just a myth, he had heard about it from others but had dismissed the idea as being complete rubbish. As for Latias, he was pretty sure they existed, but in Hoenn, not Epyhlei. If what he knew about sight-sharing was true, there had to be one somewhere nearby. He had thought that he was the only Eon in the region, in the decades he had spent here he had not heard of a single member of his species other than him. If there was another, why had he not met them before?

If only he knew the location of where the sight-share took place, he could go and investigate. He recalled that it was in some sort of forested area, which would be helpful if 90% of Epyhlei wasn't covered in forest. There wasn't much he could do to get answers at the moment. He would just have to carry on as normal and hope that time could answer his questions.

Having just woken up, Latios was both hungry and thirsty. Swellow had gone to look for food, he should do the same, but not before a quick drink.

He looked to the small ditch where he had taken a sip of water from the night before. It was empty, the water had long been evaporated. He wasn't going to get off that easily.

Latios flew up a few dozen metres from the mountain's surface. From here, he had a full view of all of Epyhlei, akin to it being a completely cloudless morning. A welcome change after yesterday's weather. Most of the landscape was obscured with trees, but he could make out a small blue pool in the distance.

As soon as Lake Dewpoint came into view Latios took off like a rocket towards it. Now that the storm was over, there would be nothing stopping him from achieving his goal.

* * *

The inspiration for the dream came from sleepwalking, or more specifically, the idea of your brain being active and unconsciously making you do things while you're asleep. You could say Latios was "sleep-psychicing".

On the subject of update delay, my personal goal is one chapter about every ten days. Still, depending on how things go I may upload more or less frequently. Don't get your hopes up though.

And don't forget to give me your thoughts on the chapter, leave a review!


	3. Chapter 3: Dewpoint

_-Dewpoint-_

As Latios began to approach the body of water he passed over the small village of Dewpoint, of which Lake Dewpoint was aptly named for it's proximity.

A few minutes walking distance south of the lake there was a circular area of forest that had been cleared of trees, providing a fair-sized open area. Within this clearing stood twenty-two homes of crude and simple design, made mostly from wood gathered during the clear-cutting. Despite the simplicity, every building was fully functional, sturdy and did its job. Anyone who would like to move in to the village would be free to do so, although every resident was in charge of the construction of their own home. As a result, all gave their best effort in putting as much home into their house as they could, and there wasn't one person who didn't find at least some pride in their handiwork. The buildings weren't only for residence either. Dewpoint was a thriving community complete some of the essentials of society such as a town hall, a market, a library and a clinic to name a few.

Normally this would be a rather unremarkable sight, Latios himself was from Hoenn and had spent a good portion of his life living there. During that time, he had seen fully developed urban centres that would have easily dwarfed the small settlement of Dewpoint, it was almost pathetic in comparison. A few years ago when he saw the miniscule collection of homes for the first time, it looked pitiful to him.

That is, until he remembered there were no humans in Epyhlei. Suddenly the village seemed a lot more extraordinary.

In all the time he had spent in the Hoenn region he had never seen anything like this, nor had he imagined that such a thing could even be possible. Every wild Pokémon that he had seen up until then, him included, had been living off instinct and generally was only looking out for itself. Eat. Drink. Sleep. Reproduce. There wasn't much socializing between Pokémon of different species. While friendships did happen, they were uncommon. At the end of the day the survival of you and your species was what mattered most.

And yet here stood almost two dozen homes built by a diverse community of Pokémon that had somehow brought itself together. Latios was dumbfounded when he first saw it. Still, he was glad to see these Pokémon becoming more civilized. Working together as a whole to get by instead of individually, he thought of it as a step in the right direction.

As he passed overhead he noticed that the roofs of many houses had sustained some visible damage, probably as a result of the storm last night. Boards were broken or missing, holes had been torn, and the like. Many of the townsfolk were outside and hard at work trying to patch up their homes. Latios slowed down so that he could survey what was going on as he passed overhead. He looked to one house and saw a Pidgeotto on the roof, positioning a board with its beak. Flying Pokémon had it easy, the roof was just a short flight from the ground for them.

The bird caught sight of him and lifted a wing, giving a friendly wave to Latios as he flew by. When most Pokémon saw him they either stared in awe, ducked for cover or did both, but after passing by the town almost every morning as part of his daily commute the Pokémon here were quite accustomed to the sight. Latios untucked one of his arms and returned the gesture.

Latios passed by another house that he recalled belonging to the town merchant, this one having taken a fair bit more damage than the others. There was a gaping hole in the roof about a metre wide, in addition to the usual few missing boards. In the front of the house was a Kecleon attempting to maneuver a very crudely made wooden ladder against the wall. There was an untouched stack of about a dozen wooden boards laying on the ground nearby, the Kecleon had probably just gotten around to starting his repairs.

Once the ladder was balanced against the house, the Kecleon began climbing with an uneasy look on his face. He had gotten about a third of the way to the roof when the step he was keeping his foot on snapped in half, causing the Kecleon to fall to the ground with a muffled thud, landing on his back. He got up after laying there for a moment and promptly surveyed the damage, letting out a groan as he realized that the ladder was now in no usable condition.

Latios figured that the poor fellow would likely benefit from some extra help, and changed course to fly over to the house. He came to a stop as he neared the Kecleon and hovered a few feet above the ground, untucking his arms in the process. The Kecleon saw him and promptly put on a more cheery expression, Latios unsure whether he was genuinely happy to see him or just trying to be polite.

"Ah, Latios! What brings you to my shop?" the Kecleon greeted him.

Latios had only begun to open his mouth to speak before he was cut off.

"Here to see my wares no doubt! You must be heading over to the lake for some food. Listen, I've got these fine Magikarp inside, just caught this morning! You won't find fresher! Saves you the trouble of having to go out an-"

"That's fine, thank you," Latios interrupted, worried that if he didn't he would never hear the end of it.

Kecleon was a typical salesperson. Latios had to give him credit though, he was a pretty good salesperson. Within moments of seeing him, Kecleon immediately knew what Latios would want, and knew just how to word it to get his attention. Still, Latios didn't have anything of value to trade for the fish, so he had no choice but to decline. Besides, he enjoyed the thrill of hunting his prey himself and the satisfaction that came with knowing that you've earned your meal, anything else was almost cheating. Still, he could smell it from outside, and it only served to heighten his hunger.

"Actually, I thought I might stop by and lend a hand, the storm seems to have put quite the dent in your roof." Latios lifted an arm, gesturing to the top of the building.

"Oh, um...yes. Yes I actually could use some help. Seeing as my ladder broke I don't really have any way of getting up there. Could you help me get that stack of boards up to the roof?" Kecleon pointed to the pile nearby.

Latios gave a nod in agreement, and turned his attention to the stack laying nearby. He focused on the boards, using his psychic ability to gradually lift them off the ground and up towards the roof in one mass. Once above the roof, he slowly lowered them until they made contact, at which point he released his psychic hold on them. The boards were in the same neat stack as previously, albeit now on top of the house. They weren't extraordinarily heavy, and the whole process took only mild effort on Latios' part.

He looked back to Kecleon, who was staring at him with his mouth hanging slightly open.

"I...I didn't know you could do that..." he said with disbelief.

Latios chuckled in response. The reactions of others when he suddenly made objects move of their own accord were always priceless.

"Hah! You wouldn't be the first to say that. Telekinesis, yeah I can do that."

Kecleon gave a puzzled expression for a few seconds, then got back on topic.

"Well, thanks for that, I appreciate it. The problem now is how I get myself up there, with the ladder broke. Wait a minute, I think I have some extr-H-HEY! What are you doing!?"

Before he could object, Latios had lifted Kecleon off the ground with his psychic and was now also taking him up to the roof. Once there, he gently laid him down next to the pile he had brought there earlier. Apart from his first outburst Kecleon had remained silent and had froze completely as Latios manipulated him, worried that if he moved it would somehow result in him plummeting to the ground.

Kecleon lay there for a moment, and steadily got up once convinced Latios had released his hold on him. Now on his feet, he let out a subtle sigh of relief.

"You could've told me you were gonna do that, you know!" Kecleon said with a tone of disapproval.

Latios meanwhile, had been smirking the whole time and continued to do so as he spoke.

"I could have, but would you have agreed? Besides, you're on the roof now aren't you?"

Kecleon eased up a bit, noting that no real harm had been done. He figured Latios wouldn't have picked him up in the first place if there was any real danger in it.

"I...um...heh...you got a point there. Hold on, how am I supposed to get down?"

"The same way you got up, of course! How long will the repair take?"

"Hmm...half an hour maybe? Give or take a few minutes, why?"

Latios hadn't forgotten why he came by the town in the first place, he was still in need of water and something to eat.

"I'm off to the lake, be back for you later, okay?"

Kecleon immediately knew Latios' motives, and responded as such.

"Hey, you know that Magikarp I mentioned earlier? Take it, it's on the house, as a token of my gratitude! You'll find half a dozen on the table inside, I trust you won't take more than the one."

"Really? Well I..." The offer took him by surprise, and he was unsure how to react. He considered objecting, but in the time he had spent here the smell had really started to get to him.

He looked down from where he was hovering, through the hole in the roof. Said table was clearly visible, with a row of Magikarp laid out on top. Still raw, just the way he liked them. The temptation was too much.

"You sure you want me to have it?"

"It's all yours! Go ahead, take it!"

After a short pause, and exchanging glances between the Magikarp and Kecleon's gleeful expression, Latios made up his mind.

"Well, thanks! I really am hungry, this is perfect, thank you."

He used his psychic to lift the fish off the table and up through the hole in the roof, at the same time trying to justify his decision by convincing himself that accepting the gift would have been the courteous thing to do. Once it was lifted out of the house, Latios dropped the Magikarp on the ground nearby and got to work, pausing for a moment to take in the scent one last time before beginning to tear off bite-sized chunks to eat. Kecleon wasn't kidding when he said it was fresh, Latios could barely tell that it had been laying out of the water for hours. Having not eaten for quite some time Latios thought the taste was very fulfilling, for a Magikarp at least, and as such he had finished his meal in about half a minute.

Latios flew back up above the roof, and saw that Kecleon had already begun the process of replacing the damaged boards with the ones he had brought over earlier.

"Thanks again, that was really great. Be back in half an hour or so, okay?"

"My pleasure, and yes, half an hour." Kecleon responded without shifting focus from the work he was doing, determined to finish the job as fast as he could. "Have a good one then."

Latios said a final "Bye," before resuming his original flight path, in the direction of the lake. He flew barely above tree level and thus was too low to see the water, but having flown the route so many times in the past he was positive that this was the right direction.

As he neared the lake, Latios reflected on the experience. Interactions like these were the reason he stayed in Epyhlei and rarely considered returning to Hoenn, for some reason you just didn't see Pokémon acting this way there. That, and Latios disliked the humans residing all over the region. He had even heard of several groups that were interested in the capture of Pokémon, particularly rare ones. This was worrying enough, but after word had gotten to him that one such group had caused the death of another Latios in a nearby region he had decided it was best to leave, for his own safety.

Also, humans generally didn't react well to him. Maybe it was something to do with him being a legendary, but out of the fifteen people he had decided to show himself to, nine had told their own Pokémon to attack him, four ran away screaming, and another downright fainted upon seeing him. In all of these situations, he had decided it was best to go invisible and leave before the situation got worse. The last person reacted a bit better, though. Unlike the others she acted friendly towards him, even trying to make some conversation. Even after all these years, Latios could still remember that day...

Before he could finish his thoughts, the treeline abruptly ended and Latios was now flying above a deep blue stretch of water. Lake Dewpoint, finally.

Without hesitation, Latios dipped down towards the surface and entered the water like a dart, barely making a splash. Moving through liquid took much greater effort than through air and he was slowed down considerably as soon as he made the plunge, though he could probably still outswim anything in the lake.

The cool water felt great, it was every bit as refreshing as he had hoped and Latios took a moment to simply enjoy the feeling of it flowing past him. Once that was done, he made sure to slow down before opening his mouth to take a drink. He had tried to drink while swimming at full speed once, and the water had rushed into his mouth so fast he almost choked. After satisfying his thirst, he flew up towards the surface and exited the water, stopping to hover a few feet above its surface.

It couldn't have been more than five minutes, and Latios was considering what to do with the other twenty-five he had to kill. The Magikarp he had earlier was good, but there was definitely room for more. He thought about catching another one, but then decided that having some variety in his food would probably be better. Berries were always easy enough to find, and it wouldn't take him long to find a few growing somewhere among the trees nearby.

He set off back towards the forest, and began his search as he entered the treeline. He looked around for any sort of fruit among the various shrubbery, and in less than a minute had found what he was looking for. There was a plant growing about a dozen round and blue berries that he immediately recognized as being the oran variety. He hovered close to the plant and picked one off, gripping it between his claws, and took a bite out of it. It had a mix of a bunch of different tastes, all thrown together into something unique. It was difficult to describe other than just plain good. A few bites later and Latios had finished the berry, and picked another one.

Right before he was going to take a bite, he caught a trace of movement behind him. It was very faint, but he now noticed that there was another aura nearby, and that it just gone from moving to stopped. This wasn't at all unusual, as he was bound to come across another Pokémon in the forest sooner or later. Latios paid no mind to it and continued eating.

The entity started to shift again, but this time much more slowly. It seemed to be moving closer, as its aura was gradually getting stronger. Whatever it was, it had to have seen him already, as it appeared to be cautiously approaching him. Latios took another bite out of the berry.

He heard leaves rustle somewhere behind him, and at the same time the entity halted its movement. Latios stopped eating again, and involuntarily pricked his ears up when he heard the sound. He was close enough to sense through the entity's aura that it was quickly becoming distressed. By its reaction it obviously didn't want him to notice it, and had probably brushed by a tree or shrub by accident and made the noise.

He turned his head to where he though it was, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. It must be hiding behind a tree or something. Now Latios himself was starting to get a little worried, it seemed as though this thing was trying to sneak up on him. He turned his head back and resumed eating, trying to act as if he hadn't noticed anything unusual. Sure enough, after a couple seconds the aura began shifting even closer.

He thought for a moment that it may be another Pokémon from the town, but quickly rejected the idea. They would have said some sort of greeting by now, and wouldn't have panicked when they thought he might have noticed them.

As the distance closed Latios was able to deduct that it was likely a psychic type, judging by the aura's strength. This was backed up by the fact that it wasn't moving along the ground, but was hovering a few feet above at around his height. It was now only a few metres behind him, and Latios figured enough was enough. He was going to attack it before it could do the same to him, and ask questions later. It probably thought it had the element of surprise, but this advantage actually belonged to Latios and he would be the one to put it to use.

Latios dropped his half-eaten berry and in one fluid motion spun around and accelerated into the threat as fast as he was able to, his opponent letting out a high-pitched yelp as he tackled it against a nearby tree. At the same time he kept his arm fixed firmly against where he expected its neck to be in order to pin it and prevent it from escaping.

It all happened so fast that Latios didn't have the time to observe what his opponent was until he had finished his maneuver and had it against the tree, but when he realized what it was he immediately regretted his decision.

It was almost as if he was looking into a mirror, except for the colour and the facial expression. He was face-to-face with a stunned and terror-stricken Latias.

* * *

And now you start to see the Mystery Dungeon influence! Look out for more similarities in the future. Don't forget to review, it's nice to hear what you think and I won't know what I should improve on unless you tell me!


	4. Chapter 4: First Impressions

Reader000x151: Here's the Pokémon Emerald Pokédex entry for Latios: "Even in hiding, it can detect the locations of others and sense their emotions since it has telepathy. Its intelligence allows it to understand human languages." That's what I based his abilities in the last chapter off of.

And now things start to get interesting!

* * *

_-First Impressions-_

Both Lati stayed completely still for a few moments, eyes locked and mouths slightly agape in both shock and disbelief.

Latios' mind had gone completely blank for a few moments, until he snapped back into reality as he felt Latias' neck shift against his arm, her throat attempting a very strained swallow. His arm was still firmly pressed against her neck, restricting her movement and clearly causing discomfort.

He immediately took his arm off of Latias and flew backward to give her some breathing room.

Now that he was further away he was able to see more than just her face, and began making some comparisons. Previously, all he knew about Latias was that they were female and looked almost identical to Latios except that they were red instead of blue. Looking at the Latias in front of him, he now saw that there were actually quite a few notable differences between them other than colour.

The first thing he noticed was her eyes, amber, as opposed to his red. Instead of having a white upside-down teardrop shape on her face like he did, Latias had a shape that somewhat resembled an upside-down pentagon. Her ears were shorter and wider than his, and curved themselves slightly backward while his were pointed straight. She was also a fair bit smaller than him, in overall length and wingspan. On her chest was a blue symbol, a diamond with the bottom two sides extending upwards to the height of topmost point. The symbol seemed familiar to Latios, though he couldn't recall where he could have seen it before.

She continued to stare at him and remained completely still against the tree he had tackled her into, scared stiff.

_Good going. Way to make a first impression._

To be fair, she shouldn't have been sneaking up on him like that in the first place, but right now she was the victim, and him the offender. Latios considered his options, and came to the conclusion that an apology might produce the best results, and attempted to muster the courage to break the silence.

"I...uh...hi?" He bit his tongue right after he had finished speaking. This was too awkward. Apart from moving her ears slightly at the voice, Latias didn't react.

_Come on. Just say what you need to say..._

"I...sorry. I'm sorry. About this. So sorry."

Still no reaction from Latias.

"I thought you might have been a threat...and I...uh..."

Her stare was beginning to make him rather uneasy, and he struggled to find the right words. It was impossible to tell her thoughts from her blank expression. Latios considered using his telepathy to figure out what she was thinking, but if she was anything like him she might be able to sense him poking around in her mind, and that would definitely not benefit the already fragile situation. In the very least, Latios could sense from her aura that she had calmed down a bit.

"What I mean is...it was a misunderstanding. My fault...sorry again." As he spoke, he couldn't help but look away from Latias and down at the ground. He felt terrible.

After a moment's pause he took in a deep breath, exhaled, and looked back up at her.

In the time that he wasn't watching her, Latias had moved slightly forward so that her back was no longer against the tree. She looked a lot less defensive now, and Latios took it as a sign of progress.

For a brief moment, he could see that her gaze was no longer fixated on him, but at a point somewhere behind where he was hovering. She quickly reverted her view to Latios after noticing that he was now looking back.

Latios glanced behind him to see what she could have been looking at, and saw the berry that he had dropped earlier. He figured that Latias must be hungry, and had probably come here for the same reason as him, food.

He flew back to the plant he was picking berries from earlier and plucked one before returning to Latias, who instinctively moved back a small distance as he approached her. He stopped a small distance away from her, trying to give an appropriate amount of space.

"You hungry?"

Latias gave a single nod, eyeing the berry he was holding. Latios held the berry in front of him and gestured for her to take it, at the same time smiling subtly and trying to look as inviting as possible. She looked at him with an unsure expression, then back at the berry. Latios thought that she could use a bit of encouragement.

"Well come on then, take it!"

With this, Latias steadily began to move closer to him, stopping when within grabbing distance of the berry. She unfolded her arms from her body and grasped the berry between her claws, giving one final look to Latios, who returned a nod. Convinced, she took the berry from him and immediately sank her teeth into it.

To Latios' surprise, she stayed where she was as she ate the berry. Latios had expected her to back away from him as soon as she took it, at least to where she had been hovering previously. Either she was too preoccupied with her food to care, or she was beginning to see him as less of a threat. Or both. Latios took the opportunity to try and chat.

"Soo...I'm Latios. I take it you're Latias? Or do you go by some other name?" he asked, hoping to dissolve some of the tension while he still had a chance.

Latias shook her head, taking a pause from eating as she did.

"Right, so it's just Latias?"

She glanced at him and nodded, before returning to her food. Latios wasn't too sure, but he could have sworn he caught a faint hint of a smile when she had nodded.

He flew over to where he had dropped his berry earlier and picked it up before returning beside Latias, joining her in eating. This time, she didn't back away when he came near. Latios ate what little was left of his meal first, and waited until Latias had finished and was looking back at him before continuing.

"You don't really talk much do you?"

There was a short pause before the response came.

"Sorry...this is just a lot to take in at once. And I suppose I am the quiet type now that you mention it..."

Latios thought that his question may have been a little uncalled for, but was relieved to actually hear something from Latias, who had not said a single word until now.

"Yeah, likewise here. As in, the part about it being a lot to take in."

He was one to talk, he didn't get tackled into a tree. Whatever shock he had felt, Latias must have had it much worse.

"Are you alright? I hit you pretty hard back there. You hurt?" He hadn't attacked earlier with the goal of causing injury, it was more of an attempt to intimidate what could have been a threat. Still, he hadn't been exactly gentle either.

"No, I...I'm fine." she responded with a hint of uncertainty.

In reality her back where she had hit the tree felt like an Onyx had just body-slammed her, but she wasn't going to admit that. Latios pressed the question further.

"You sure?"

"Really, I'm fine."

He was about to continue, but decided now was not the best time to argue.

Latias turned her focus away from him and began to lick the remains of her meal off of her claws, as if she was done eating. Latios found this peculiar, as there was no way she could have satisfied her hunger completely with only one meager berry.

"You know, there's still a bunch of berries left on that plant, feel free to eat those too."

Latias turned her attention to the oran plant, which still had nine fruit left on it.

"Really? I...no, I can't. You were here first, and it's my fault you weren't able to finish. You go ahead, I'll have what's left once you're done." She was practically starving, but couldn't bring herself to agree.

Despite her denial, Latios wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Don't be ridiculous, they're all yours. I'm done eating anyway."

"You're not hungry?"

He shook his head. The two berries he had were enough, for now.

Latias thought it through.

"Well...if you insist." She might as well eat them if he wasn't going to.

She flew over to the plant and plucked a berry before going to work on it. Latios flew over next to her, and continued conversation.

"So, why sneak up on me like that?"

Latias talked in between bites.

"I suppose I was curious. You're a Latios. I'm a Latias. You can't blame me for being interested. I just wanted to observe you for a bit."

_Interested?_

No, she probably didn't mean it like that. Latios quickly dismissed the thought as silly and asked another question.

"Fair enough, but why didn't you say something? To make your presence known?"

Latias finished her berry and started on another one before answering.

"Like I said, I just wanted to observe you for a bit at first. See what you were doing. I was nervous, and when I was finally about to say something...you...yeah, you know. Besides, you sneaked up on me earlier today too, I could be asking you the same questions!"

"What?" Latios responded, confused. He was positive he had never seen her before in his entire life, let alone this morning. "But I never..."

Suddenly, it hit him. He had in fact seen her this morning. This was the Latias he had sight-shared with. And the symbol, now he remembered where he had seen it. It was the same one that had merged with his before the sight-share started.

Latios had frozen and was staring blanking into space, until Latias' voice brought him back into reality.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. I'm fine. Sorry, was just thinking."

Latias had eaten another berry, and was now on her fourth.

"So, you were saying?" she said.

Latios wondered how he was going to explain this, without sounding like he had gone crazy.

"I wasn't actually anywhere near you before."

Latias made a confused face.

"But that doesn't make any sense, I heard you as if you were right behind me! Where were you anyway? I looked all over the place."

"Like I said, I wasn't nearby. Latias, do you know what a 'sight-share' is?"

She paused to think.

"No idea."

This complicated things. The whole idea still seemed peculiar to him, even though he was the one to have experienced it firsthand. If he tried explaining it to Latias, who hadn't even heard of sight-sharing before, it would sound absolutely ludicrous.

"Now's probably not the best time to explain, it's a bit complex."

"If you say so."

She finished her berry, and took yet another. Latios found it hard to believe how many she had eaten. He decided to keep quiet for a while and let her finish. He had to admit, there was something cute about the way she ate, and she really seemed to be enjoying it.

"You really were hungry, huh?"

Latias had just finished her final berry and was now licking her claws as before.

"Hungry is an understatement. Thank you, really, those were great. I just wish there was some meat around..."

Latios found her last remark a bit odd, they were right next to a lake that had plenty of edible aquatic life swimming around in it. Better yet, since it was a lake there was nowhere prey could swim off to.

"Why not just catch something? The Magikarp here practically swim into your jaws."

"Oh...well, I...um...don't think I can..."

In Latios' view, this was cause for alarm.

"You can't? What do you mean you can't? Wait...you ARE hurt, aren't you! I knew it, why d-"

"No! I'm fine, it's nothing like that...it's just..." Latias' ears drooped down slightly and she looked away from him, down at the ground. She closed her eyes and let out a subtle sigh before continuing. "I...I don't know how."

"WHAT?"

Latias' head sank lower at the outburst. The words came as such a shock to Latios that he had spoken without thinking, and regretted doing so almost instantly. Once again, he felt terrible. He desperately tried to think of a way to remedy the situation, and soon came up with one.

"Tell you what, I'll catch something. Just for you, okay?"

Latias didn't react, but he decided he was going to do it anyway.

"Just stay here, I'll be right back."

Having said this, Latios flew back in the direction of the lake and in no time was back above the surface of the water. He took a plunge, and began his search for anything that might be swimming beneath.

He wondered how Latias could have possibly survived up until now without any meat. Latios had never gone more than a day or so without any protein, he had become such an efficient hunter that he could single-handedly take down just about anything short of another legendary. He had no doubt that he would even be able defeat something like a fully grown Salamence if he really wanted to. That's not to say it would be easy, or entirely painless for that matter. There was much easier prey out there.

Perhaps Latias was a scavenger. That would explain how she's kept herself alive all this time, but looking at her, she was not meant to be a scavenger. Even with the few subtle differences between the two, she, like him, was a Lati. Eyes, teeth, claws, wings, and the like. If he was meant to be a hunter, then so was she. Though for some reason, that had not happened.

Latios spotted a distorted shape in the water, and moved closer to inspect it. Sure enough, a Magikarp. With a sudden burst of speed, he darted for the fish and snatched it between his jaws before it even noticed he was there. Too easy, Latias shouldn't have a problem with tasks like this.

He flew up and out of the water and did a quick look around to get his bearings, the Magikarp still in his mouth. He spotted the part of the treeline that he had exited from to get to the lake, and went for it with the goal of retracing his steps to get back to Latias. Soon he spotted the familiar oran plant, and saw her lying flat on her front on the grass nearby, looking more dead than alive.

As he came near, Latias raised her head off the ground and looked up to him, going into a hover when she noticed the fish he was carrying. Her eyes went wide with surprise and anticipation.

Latios dropped the Magikarp on the ground in front of her, and smiled.

"Here you go, like I promised. Hope you like seafood."

Latias immediately became very cheery, and rushed over to him and tried to rub her snout against his. She had moved so suddenly that Latios shifted backward just enough for her snout to miss his. She quickly compensated by moving closer and trying again, this time making contact.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Right after saying this, she left him and went for the fish, beginning to eat with considerable haste. Latios was taken aback.

"Err...it's no problem, really."

If she had enjoyed the berries, then she was enjoying this fish about five times as much, and devoured the whole thing within a very short timespan. After finishing, she turned back to Latios, who had been watching in mild disbelief.

"That was the best thing I've had since...well, as long as I can remember. I really appreciate it."

"Glad you liked it. And...I'm sorry for yelling earlier...it's just that..." He found it hard to continue the sentence, as Latias went from cheery to more serious and slightly melancholy.

He was wondering how to put his thoughts into words without offending her, but Latias spoke first, looking off to the side as to not meet his gaze.

"Don't worry, I understand. I should know how to do these things. I don't blame you if you think I'm a pathetic excuse for a Lati...you'd probably be right."

Latios wasn't sure who the words hurt more, her or him. He shifted so that he was directly in Latias view and making eye contact before speaking.

"Hey, don't be like that. I don't think you're pathetic, it was just a bit...unexpected."

This didn't seem to help much, as Latias closed her eyes and turned away from him so that she was facing the opposite direction. Latios felt sorry for her, maybe it wasn't even her fault. Perhaps there was a way he could help.

He flew around Latias so that he was once again directly in front of her.

"How about this, I'll teach you how to hunt."

She opened her eyes and looked to him.

"You...you would do that?"

"Sure! It's not that hard, you'll see. We can even start now, if you'd like." Latios answered, glad to see she had taken interest.

"Well...alright."

"Good, follow me to the lake. Stuff tastes way better when you catch it yourself, you'll see."

Latios flew back to the lake, and Latias followed as instructed. They stopped above the surface, and he gave a small briefing before they would dive under and start.

"So, you have any experience hunting before? Have you ever actually tried?"

"Well, yes, but without too much success. I did get a Remoraid once, but it started flapping around so much that I lost my grip and...well...dropped it..."

He was relieved to hear that Latias wasn't at least a complete novice.

"Hey, that's not so bad! I've dropped a few fish by accident myself, so don't worry. I find that thrashing them around a bit when they start moving can help, so try that next time."

She acknowledged the advice with a nod, and posed a question.

"So, how is this going to work exactly?"

"I was just getting to that. You go on ahead and try to get something, I'll sit back and watch your technique. Then we'll build up from there. Sound good?"

"Yep."

"One more thing, we obviously won't be able to talk like this underwater, so we'll use telepathy."

Latias looked confused.

"Did you say telepathy?"

He had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but had considered the possibility and was more prepared for the news this time. He figured the best way for her to understand would be to experience it firsthand.

_"Yes, that's what I said. Don't worry about it, if you want to tell me something just think it to yourself, okay? I'll handle the rest."_

Latias looked a little shocked, but nodded.

"Good. Well, we can start whenever you're ready."

It didn't take long for her to dive under the surface, and Latios followed.

She swam around randomly and at a cautious pace for some time, occasionally turning her head with the hopes of spotting something. Meanwhile Latios watched from a distance, looking for anything she may have missed. Nothing so far.

_"Latios, there! I think it's a Magikarp!" _She pointed to an area in front of her, where there was indeed something casually swimming along.

_"Nice find, go for it!"_ She had spotted it before him, and he couldn't help but be a little impressed.

Latias charged for the Magikarp, which managed to notice her coming and picked up speed. Just as soon as she came within biting distance, the fish suddenly changed direction, causing her to miss and catch nothing but a mouthful of water. Latias gave up and let her prey continue its retreat.

_"Dammit. What am I doing wrong?"_

While she was lamenting her defeat, Latios thought it went great for a first attempt.

_"That was actually pretty good, you have the right idea! If I could make one suggestion, try to get in a bit closer behind before pouncing next time, it'll have less time to react."_

_"Alright, I'll try that."_

They began another search, and this time Latios was the first to spot.

_"A bit to your left and below, you see it? Another Magikarp."_

She scanned the general area for a moment, and gave a reply.

_"Ah, I see it now. I'll get this one, you wait and see!"_

He smiled to himself. He had never hunted with someone else before, and this was actually kind of fun. Probably not so much for the Magikarp, but Latias seemed to be enjoying herself, and so was he.

Instead of immediately dashing toward her prey, this time Latias inched closer, trying her best to stay behind where it wouldn't be able to see her. She came as close as she dared, before darting forward and successfully snatching it in her mouth.

_"I got it! I got it!"_

_"Yeah, I saw! Couldn't have done better myself! Go ahead and take it back up to the surface."_

Latias did as instructed and Latios followed, both of them coming to a hover above the lake once out of the water.

The fish was still firmly in the jaws of Latias, though it was whipping around in a desperate attempt to free itself.

"Hey, remember what I said before? Try tossing it around a bit, it should stop moving eventually."

Latias did as he suggested, and violently shook her head from side to side. A little too violently, because the Magikarp managed to slip away and fall back into the lake, swimming away as fast as it could despite its injuries.

Latias watched it escape, disappointed that her prey had eluded her once again. Latios tried to cheer her up.

"Ah. Well, you might have overdone it a bit. But hey! Even if you dropped it, you caught one! That's the worst part, and I'm proud of you. On just your second try too!"

"Thanks. You think we could have another go? If you have the time?"

He was glad to see she wanted to continue. Besides, it's not like there was anything else that needed doing. Or was there?

Suddenly, he remembered about Kecleon. All of this excitement had caused him to forget, and it had surely been more than half an hour by now.

"Actually, I was supposed to help out a friend a while ago. I really should be getting back to him. Sorry."

This answer wasn't the one she had hoped for, and she was visibly disappointed.

"Oh..."

Latios tried to lift her spirits again.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll see each other again sometime, but for now I really need to get going. You can practice on your own, I'm sure you'll have no problems now. Just be confident, and don't let any mistakes bring you down."

Latias nodded in agreement, before saying her farewell.

"Goodbye then..."

"Goodbye."

Latios didn't want to leave either, but there weren't really any other options. He gave a final wave, and took off into the sky in the direction of Dewpoint, not looking back.

After just a few seconds of flight, he heard someone calling out to him from behind, unmistakably Latias.

"Latios! Stop for a second! Hey, WAIT!"

Whatever she had to say, judging by her tone of voice it was something important. Latios stopped and turned around, and sure enough there she was, trying to catch up with him. She barely had enough time to stop, and almost flew into him trying to do so.

"What? What is it?"

"Okay...um..." She looked nervous, and began stuttering. "Can I...would you mind if...what I'm trying to say is...can I come with you?" With this, she looked at him with a longing expression and uncomfortably waited for the answer.

Latios couldn't believe what he had just heard. He was overcome with joy, and couldn't help but break into a wide smile.

"Yes. Of course you can."

Latias beamed back at him, clearly happy that Latios had accepted the request.

The two set off for Dewpoint, flying side-by-side together.

* * *

And so begins the adventure!

This chapter had some pretty major events, and I really tried to make it the best one yet, and in general to just make it feel..."right" (no, that's not supposed to be some pun in relation to the title). So, how well do you think I did? Any comments on the story plotline thus far? Review, review, review.

And if you ever want progress updates on future chapters, I have a section for that on my profile which I'll be updating accordingly.


	5. Chapter 5: A Warm Welcome

Enjoy.

* * *

_-A Warm Welcome-_

"So, Latios, where are we going, exactly? And slow down a bit! You're flying like there's a Rayquaza after you!"

For around the first half of the flight, both Latias and Latios had kept to themselves, Latias admiring the landscape and Latios antagonizing about the fact that he had forgotten about Kecleon. Is this how he was going to repay him for the food he had selflessly given to him? By making him sit there and wait? How much time had passed? Was he still on the roof? Could someone else have helped him down? What if-

"HEY! You hear me? I'm having a hard time keeping up!"

Latios' worried thoughts had caused him to unconsciously speed up from when they had started flying, and Latias had since drifted from his side to slightly behind him. He did as requested, and lowered his speed in order for her to catch up.

"Sorry! It's just I'm in a bit of a rush, like I said, I'm late." Latios explained.

He continued to decelerate until Latias was once again at his 3 o'clock position at which point he maintained his current airspeed, refusing to delay himself any more than absolutely necessary.

Latias didn't want to show any weakness, but really couldn't take it anymore. She didn't like having to ask to slow down, but was nevertheless glad he did.

"Thanks. As I said, where are we going? You mentioned needing to help out a friend?"

"Yeah. In summary, I threw him up on a roof and told him I'd get him down in thirty minutes."

This prompted a lighthearted chuckle from Latias.

"He owns a shop at Dewpoint," he continued, "I'm sure you've heard of the place?"

Latias thought for a moment, trying to recall the name but to no avail.

"Nope. Wait, is Dewpoint that little town over there?"

She briefly untucked an arm and pointed to the clustered group of buildings they were headed towards, before withdrawing it back. Keeping up with Latios was difficult enough without the increased drag.

"I noticed it while flying around a couple days ago. Considered giving the place a visit, but was a bit worried that a legendary suddenly showing up wouldn't be very well received..."

"Yep, you'd be right, on both accounts. You should've seen what happened the first time I came by, the whole place practically went on lockdown. But they know me now, and I'm sure they'll have no problem with you tagging along."

To be fair, he had flown overhead the village at supersonic speed in an attempt to show off prior to setting down in the middle of the place. The citizens took him a little too seriously and all scattered into the nearest building that wasn't locked, spooked by not only the deafening noise but also the legendary dragon that had just done a fly-by. It took a good few minutes of wandering around, looking into the windows of the houses, much to the dismay of the occupants, and shouting that he indeed did not mean any harm until a particularly courageous Typhlosion exited the relative safety his home and confronted him. After quick introductions and an apology from Latios, they shared a handshake and Typhlosion welcomed him to the town, and things went a little better from then onward. For the first few visits afterwards his presence was still unnerving for some, and he would occasionally see somebody duck and cover as he flew by but they had gotten used to him fairly quickly and now he was practically an honorary member. All that stopped him from moving in was his usual spot atop Kivlo, which he much preferred over staying in a cramped and enclosed building.

While Latios was recalling the memory, Latias had gone back to looking over the landscape.

"This place sure is huge, what's it called? The region, I mean."

She couldn't have been here for very long to be asking the question, Latios thought.

"It's Epyhlei. How long have you been here?" he asked,

"Not very long, not even a week. Just four days."

As he expected, Latias had just arrived to the region. He didn't blame her for being partly clueless, he was a bit lost and confused himself when he'd first arrived.

"So, where are you from? Hoenn, I take it? That's where I'm from, but I left for this place a few years ago."

"Err...well, to be honest, I'm not too sure..."

Latios gave her a puzzled look.

"Not sure? What do you mean by...actually, hold that thought. There's the friend I told you about, still on the roof. See him?"

By now they were close enough to Dewpoint for Latios to spot the green speck that was Kecleon, and he pointed to the respective building before diving from altitude in its direction. Latias followed, relieved that Latios had not been able to finish his question because she knew she wouldn't have been able to give him a satisfactory answer.

As they neared the shop, Latios could see that Kecleon was lying on his back with his arms folded behind his head for support. All signs of visible damage to the house, mainly the aforementioned hole in the roof, had been repaired and he appeared to have taken a nap.

In his mind, Latios yet again cursed himself, concluding that Kecleon had at some point fallen asleep out of sheer boredom awaiting his return.

He stopped just short of the roof, taking care not to kick up too much wind in an attempt to keep quiet and coming to a hover a short distance above. Latias appeared at the other side of the roof, opposite of him and across from Kecleon, and began studying the sleeping lizard who was at the moment making subtle whistles with each breath he exhaled. Still asleep, and Latios wasn't sure whether it would be better to wake him now, or to let him nap until he awoke of his own accord.

Latias spared him the trouble of deciding, for she wasn't as intent on keeping silent as he was.

"So, I take it this is your friend?"

If only she had known telepathy. He shot her a disapproving look, and was about to tell her to quiet down before noticing that it would be of no use, as Kecleon was already stirring. He sat up slowly, gave a yawn, and began to rub his eyes.

"Oh, hey Latios. Glad you're back, I finished early and dec-"

Kecleon cut off his sentence as he opened his eyes and turned in the direction of the voice, expecting to see Latios. Instead, his eyes met with those of a slightly different shade of Lati. He blinked twice before continuing.

"Wh...wha...WHAT?! I knew I could change colour, but you?! How in the..."

In fact, Latios had the ability to change the appearance of his colour or even shape for that matter if he wanted to, but that was beside the point. The whole scene was quite comical to him, and he smirked to Latias, who was trying to hold back a grin herself. She decided to take advantage of Kecleon's cluelessness for a little while longer.

"What? You don't think red suits me?"

"No, no! I didn't mean that! It's just..."

By now, Latias was failing to contain her laughter, and the abnormal pitch of her voice only added to Kecleon's confusion.

"And is it just me, or do you sound different? Um...Latios? Uh..."

The look on his face was priceless, and as such Latias was laughing too hard to respond. Latios figured he had had enough, and made his presence known.

"Hey, looking for someone?" he said in a joking manner.

Kecleon turned the opposite way, and recoiled upon seeing him.

"WHAT? But...you...th...that...there...he...what?

Kecleon looked back to Latias, who was still laughing and had managed to turn herself over so that she was now upside down. He then turned his attention back to him, back to Latias, then back to him once more.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?"

Latios was about to answer, but someone else beat him to it.

"The red one, Kecleon, is a Latias. The female counterpart of Latios. You really should stop by the library for some light reading more often." a voice said matter-of-factly.

All three turned their attention to the new voice and saw who Latios immediately recognized as Pidgeotto, flying towards them. Upon reaching reaching the roof, he set down next to Kecleon and shook his head in moderate disapproval at him before turning to Latias.

"Hi, I'm Pidgeotto!" he started, "I take it you're with Latios? Any friend of his is a friend of mine."

Though she appreciated his courtesy, Latias was taken slightly aback and gave her own introduction with mild awkwardness in her voice.

"Hi, I'm Latias...uh, nice to meet you! So you two know each other?"

She pointed to Pidgeotto and then to Latios, who responded with a nod.

"Well, of course!" Latios answered, "The town's small enough for everyone to know each other, to some extent. Pidgeotto here runs the library, by the way."

"You have a library?" Latias asked, impressed. "As in, with books?"

"Well, yes, that's what you typically find in a library." he answered.

"Wow, how many?"

Pidgeotto was thrilled that someone had taken interest in his work, and spoke with a sense of pride.

"Eh, a few hundred maybe? It started out as a personal collection of written works, but I figured that other people could benefit so I remodelled the place as a public library. A lot of the books mine, but others often donate their own, it's a town effort. Oh, and feel free to stop by if you fancy a read, I've got everything from fiction and non-fiction stories, poetry, informational texts, encyclopedias, to the more practical stuff like guides on battle, moves, berries, et cetera. Whatever you like!"

"Yeah, I just might do that!"

Meanwhile, Latios thought it was nice to see the two getting along, and hoped that it would go this smoothly with the rest of the townspeople.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted a Pichu and Raichu running towards them. The Pichu was almost in a full sprint and calling out to the Raichu, who was struggling to keep up.

"See! See! I told you mom! There's the Latias!" the Pichu yelled, drawing the rest of the group's attention.

"Yes, okay, I believe you already! Now could you calm down?" the Raichu responded, panting.

They stopped in front of the house, the Pichu looking up at Latias with great excitement while the Raichu struggled to regain it's breath. The Pichu gave an enthusiastic wave.

"Hi Latias!"

"Uh, hello?" she said whilst returning the gesture, though with slightly less liveliness than Pichu.

The Raichu regained composure and spoke.

"Don't mind him, he can be a bit hyperactive. Anyways, hi there! I'm Raichu, and that's Pichu."

"Nice to meet you two!" Latias replied.

"So, a Latias! I had a feeling he'd steal one from Hoenn sooner or later." Raichu said with a smirk, gesturing towards Latios. "You are from Hoenn, right?"

"Err...actually, I..." Latias paused to think for a moment, before answering, "Yes, Hoenn. I'm from Hoenn."

She looking visibly uncomfortable, and didn't sound very sure of herself. Latios remembered asking the same question earlier, and was confused by her change in answer.

"Wait, I thought you said you didn't know?"

"I...uh..."

She was spared from having to respond by the appearance of two new characters, an Arcanine and a Sceptile, who had heard the commotion while passing by and were now coming to join the pair already standing in front of the building.

"Wow, a Latias!" the Arcanine started, "And I thought it was a privilege to see just one of the Eon Pokémon within my lifetime! I'm Arcanine, by the way."

"And I'm Sceptile, pleased to meet you!"

"And you too!" responded Latias.

The conversation didn't get past introductions on account of the pattern continuing, with more and more Pokémon joining what was beginning to turn into a crowd. Within mere minutes the group had gone from five to around twenty in total, all crowding around the front of Kecleon's shop, each eager to meet with Latias and pose their own questions.

Latias didn't appreciate the attention very much. While she was glad that everyone was so anxious to welcome her into their company, she was a bit overwhelmed and uncomfortable with suddenly being in the spotlight. That, and it was next to impossible to try and maintain conversation with so many others at once. As such, she had a moment of relief when a sudden shout silenced the group.

"EVERYONE CALM DOWN!"

Any chatting immediately stopped as they all turned in the direction of the yell, which had come from behind the crowd. Standing there was a Typhlosion, who had been able to command authority over the entire group despite standing alone. Latios recognized him instantly, and had until now been wondering when he'd show up.

"Now," Typhlosion continued, "I'm sure we're all excited by the arrival of our new guest, but give her some space! How would you like it if a group of Pokémon you've never met before this large suddenly started crowding around and bombarding you with questions?"

Other than a few members of the crowd exchanging glances with each other, there was no reaction and everyone remained silent.

"That's what I thought. I'm sure you all mean well, but let's give Latias the chance to see the town and meet you all for herself. Everyone, just go back to whatever it was you were doing, and give these two the freedom to explore at their own pace. Agreed? Good."

There were a few murmurs among the crowd, but no one objected and soon the group had completely dispersed, each Pokémon having gone its own separate way. This left only the two Eons, Kecleon and Typhlosion.

Typhlosion walked to where the crowd had been, and apologized on behalf of them.

"Sorry about that, though you can't really blame them. It's not everyday a legendary comes along. Anyways, hello, and welcome to Dewpoint! I'm Typhlosion. You're Latias, I take it?"

Latias nodded, and along with Latios descended so that they were in front of and at eye level with Typhlosion.

"Well then, pleased to meet you." he said, extending his right paw.

"You too!" Latias responded, at the same time accepting the handshake.

"Thanks for that," Latios started, "I was getting close to telling them to quiet down myself."

"Yeah, you know how they are," Typhlosion continued, "Since there's so few of us here everyone's eager to meet the new guy. Er...girl, in this case. Hope they didn't cause you too much trouble."

"No, not at all. It's alright." Latias answered.

"Good to hear. Well, I'll leave you two to yourselves now. Hope you enjoy your stay. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" the two Lati said in near-unison, before watching Typhlosion turn and leave the scene.

"Typhlosion's something like the town leader, unofficially," Latios explained, "He doesn't like to consider himself as the one in charge, even if the rest of the Pokémon treat him like he is. If there's any important decision to be made on behalf of the town, everyone else looks up to him to make the call. He started the town, after all, so they figure he probably knows best. I think he fits the role pretty well, even if he doesn't acknowledge it. Always tries to put his people first, and they respect because of it."

"Huh..." Latias paused for a brief moment, processing the information. "So...you wanna...sorta...show me around?"

"Uh, guys? Still here, on the roof." Kecleon interrupted before Latios could answer.

"Oh, sorry! Almost forgot about you." Latios said before using his psychic to pick him up off the roof and lower him back on to the ground. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd forgotten about him today...

To his surprise, when he looked back at Latias she was looking back at him with a shocked expression, similar to when he had first used telepathy.

_Don't tell me she doesn't know..._

"How did you..."

"Telekinesis, yeah he can do that." Kecleon explained with smug expression, copying the exact words Latios had used earlier that day and poking fun at him.

Latios sighed and shot him a look. "Really...?"

"Lighten up a bit," Kecleon said with a chuckle, "You know I'm just messing with you. Anyways, I better get going, I've had to close down shop because of the repairs, so I need to make up for the lost hours. Hope to see you two some other time!"

"I'm sure you will, bye then." Latios said.

A final "Bye," from Latias and Kecleon retreated into his shop with the goal of getting it back up and running as soon as possible.

Latias turned back to Latios. "Wow, first telepathy, now telekinesis?"

"Well, to be fair, I am a psychic type..."

"Can you read minds too?" Latias said with a hint of sarcasm.

He wasn't going to answer that.

Not knowing about sight-sharing was understandable, but telepathy, and telekinesis too? And on top of that, not knowing how to hunt as well? This was getting ridiculous.

_Does she know ANYTHING?_

"Look, I'm sure you can do this stuff too." he tried to reassure her.

"Well...if I can, then I haven't the slightest idea as to how..."

There was a moment of awkward silence, before Latias came up with an idea.

"Hey, maybe you could...teach me that stuff too?" she asked with some hesitation.

"Um..." Latios wasn't too keen on playing the role of teacher, but figured it would probably be for the best. "Alright, fine. But some other time. You wanted me to show you around?"

She nodded excitedly, partly out of eagerness to see the town and partly out of happiness that Latios had accepted her offer.

"Yes, please do!"

"Alright, well..." Latios began, not too sure where to start. "Right now we're in front of Kecleon's shop, as I'm sure you've noticed. He trades a whole bunch of random odds and ends. For example, you could probably find a few evolution stones in there, not that you'd need any. You know Lati don't evolve right?"

"Uh, yes? Of course I do! None of the legendaries evolve. Why would you even ask that?" she answered, partly insulted that she had been given such an obvious question.

"Right, sorry," he apologized, regretting having asked. "So, just follow me and I'll point things out as we pass by, okay?"

"Sure, no problem."

Latios flew to a higher altitude to get a better view of the area, with Latias following at his side. They started a fly-by over the various houses, going at a slow pace in order for Latios to have enough time to describe the ones that weren't purely for residency.

"That building is the town hall...sorta. It's really Typhlosion's house, but it's also where everyone will gather if there needs to be some sort of meeting or discussion. Over there's the clinic, run by a Chansey. I haven't actually been there myself, never been seriously injured or sick to the point where I didn't think I could deal with it myself. Besides, I don't really trust someone else to know what's best for me. Still, from what I've heard, she probably knows what she's doing. That large, rectangular building is an indoor arena of sorts, where some like to go and practise battles, or try out new moves, stuff like that. It's good for land-based Pokémon, but if you prefer to fly then there isn't nearly enough room. That one's the library, mentioned earlier. Pidgeotto wasn't kidding when he said he's got hundreds of books, where he's gotten so many is beyond me..."

"You think we could visit?" Latias asked. "I told him I'd stop by earlier, and I'm actually quite interested in seeing the place."

"Sure, go on ahead."

After hearing his approval, Latias made a shallow dive for the library. Latios followed.

"We were just about done anyway," he said, "Most of the other buildings are just homes, except for the storage, but that's not really important."

Once they reached the building, they set down in front the entrance. The double doors leading inside where open, and even from outside the numerous shelves lined with various literature were clearly visible.

"Oh, wow!" Latias exclaimed, before eagerly flying inside and beginning to read the spines of the books on the nearest bookcase.

Latios followed her inside. The room itself wasn't excessively large, but with the way it was arranged there was more than enough space for it to suit its purpose. All the books were neatly tucked into shelves with plenty space available for any new books and there was still enough room for him to be able to fit between the isles without too much trouble.

Pidgeotto appeared from behind one of the bookcases and was delighted to see that Latias had decided to come by.

"Ah, hello again! Glad to see you could make it. Help yourself to anything you might be interested in. And if you're looking for anything specific, be sure to ask! The sections might be a bit disorganized at the moment."

"Thanks!" she responded, barely taking her eyes off the current shelf she was examining. "Though I think I'll just have a look around for now."

"Of course! Be my guest." He turned to Latios. "How about you? Fancy anything?"

"No thanks, I'm just here with..." Suddenly, he recalled a book that he had read a few years ago, that he thought would be great for Latias. "Actually, yes. There is something. Remember that one book I checked out when I first came here? You still have it?"

Pidgeotto thought for a moment, and despite the vague details before long he knew exactly what Latios was asking for. He gestured for Latios to follow him to a bookcase further toward the back of the library, and upon reaching it began running the feathers of his wing across the spines of several books, stopping as he came to a rather undifferentiated-looking brown hardcover. He pulled out the book and handed it to Latios.

"That's the one, right?"

There was no writing on the front or back of the exterior, so Latios flipped to the first page to confirm its identity. Handwritten in black ink and rather small lettering, it read "_The Eon Duo: Latios and Latias_". Satisfied, he shut the cover.

"I don't know how you do it, but yeah, this is the one. Thanks."

"Heh, lucky guess? Your welcome."

Latios wasn't convinced that Pidgeotto had picked the book purely on intuition, but he had saved him a considerable amount of time that he would have otherwise spent searching for it himself, so he wasn't about to complain.

He returned to Latias, who was now at the bookcase adjacent to the one where she had been previously, running a claw along the books as she read their titles.

"Hey, uh, Latias?" She shifted her attention upon hearing the name. "Here's something I think you might be interested in." He held up the book so that she could see.

"What's it about?" she asked, visibly interested.

"Take a look for yourself."

Latias flew over and took it from him to examine. She turned the cover over and Latios could see her eyes go wide upon seeing the title. She began flipping through the pages at random, stopping once in a while to read an excerpt before continuing. After a few seconds of skimming through the book, she closed it and turned back to Latios.

"This is great! I mean, it's perfect!" she said excitedly, "That's quite thoughtful of you, thanks..."

She leaned in, and rubbed her snout against his like she had done once before. Latios froze up for a moment, and went blank until she had concluded the motion.

"Err...don't mention it." was all he managed to say.

Latias flew to the end of the isle and rounded the corner to get to Pidgeotto, who was rearranging the books on one of the shelves. He turned to her and noticed that now she was holding the book he had given Latios earlier.

"Ah, I presume you've found something you like?"

"Yes, I have," she answered, "I'd like to check this out if you don't mind."

"No problem! Just so long as you make sure to bring it back in the same same condition you got it."

"Thanks, and don't worry, I will."

"In that case, enjoy!"

Latias gave a subtle nod in approval before returning down the isle to Latios, who had not moved from where she had left him.

"I think this book will do for now." she said.

"Right. So, ready to leave?"

Latias answered with a nod.

"Pidgeotto?" Latios couldn't see Pidgeotto from where he was, and spoke in a general direction. "We're going, thanks for everything!"

"Thank you for coming! Bye!" Pidgeotto said back from behind a bookshelf, nearby to where Latios had expected him to be.

"Bye!" said Latios, shortly followed by Latias.

The two exited the library, Latias holding the book between her paw and her side.

"Anywhere else you want to go?" Latios asked, unsure of what to do next himself.

"Actually, I'm curious as to which house is yours, I don't think you've mentioned it yet."

It was a fair question, most of the town members resided in houses within the town itself, it made sense that Latias was wondering which one was his.

"I don't actually live in the town," he explained, "In fact, I suppose I don't really 'live' anywhere, though you'll often find me on the peak of Kivlo. I guess you could consider that my home, it's where I sleep after all."

She looked at him with a confused expression. "Kivlo?"

"Ah, right. You're new. That over there's Kivlo Mountain." Latios said, turning to point at the peak in the distance.

"Up there? Wow, that's pretty cool. I'm sure its got quite the view, right?"

"Well, if you're lucky and it's a cloudless day, like today, then yes. The place will fog up whenever a cloud passes by, though I don't really mind."

"Could we go visit?" she asked, eager to see what the peak was like from up close.

"Err...now?"

Latias nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Usually he wouldn't return to Kivlo until later in the day, though if Latias really wanted to go there he wasn't going to object.

"Well, alright then. Let's go."

Latios took off in the direction of the mountain, and Latias joined him at her usual position just off to his right side, still clutching the book firmly against her side in order to keep it from slipping out of her grasp.

* * *

I had some serious difficulty with this chapter, but in the end I'm glad how it turned out.

I'm gonna stop asking for reviews after each chapter, I figure if anyone was inclined enough to write one they would have done so already. That, and I'm actually REALLY pleased with what I'm getting so far, you guys are awesome. Instead, I'm gonna start asking for favourites and follows, so if you could...just kidding. Though that would still be nice.

Also, 500 views! I don't even know how much that's supposed to mean, and at least a good 50 of those are mine, but 500 is still a nice number.


	6. Chapter 6: Wingman

I present to you my longest chapter by a significant amount, enjoy!

* * *

_-Wingman-_

Latias turned her head to the left, to take a look at Latios. His own gaze was fixated on Kivlo, still a significant distance away. It would take them a few minutes to reach the mountain, and Latias thought it would be a good opportunity for some conversation.

"So, could you tell me a bit about this book? I presume you've read it already to have recommended it to me?"

Latios also turned his head in her direction upon hearing the question.

"Yeah, I've read it. To summarize, it's basically everything you'd ever need to know about the Lati species. It details everything from abilities, to behaviours, and even some lore. There's some really useful and detailed information in there, I managed to learn a thing or two myself. I thought you could make some good use out of it, seeing that you...well..."

"Seeing that I'm completely clueless?"

"What? No! That's not what I was going to say!" he answered defensively.

"But it's what you meant, isn't it?" she pressed on. "You got me this because you thought it would help me learn, and tutor me on how to be a proper Latias."

Latios had meant well in suggesting the book, though felt guilty for having brought up the subject as to why he had done so.

"Look, you can't be so hard on yourself." he said with a sigh.

"I'm not, I'm just stating the truth," she answered in a serious tone, "And if it sounds like I'm taking offence to your way of thinking, I'm not. In fact, I really appreciate this. To be honest, I thought you would have given up on me already, but instead you're looking for ways to help me. You know..." She smiled warmly to him. "That really means something..."

Latios wasn't used to having any sort of deep emotion directed towards him, and as a result began feeling extremely awkward. Still, he managed a slight smile back, convinced that he was doing the right thing by going through the trouble to try and educate her. He continued to stare back at her, unsure of how to respond to her words. Latias saved him the trouble by speaking first.

"Anyways, back to the book. I didn't see an author on the first page, you know who wrote it?"

"Oh, um..." He took a brief moment to recall. "It was mainly another Latios, with help from a Latias on a few parts if I remember correctly. I think it says in the intro a few pages in."

"Really? A Latios? Wow, that's awesome!" she responded excitedly, "I guess I can assume everything in this book is accurate then, right?"

"For the most part."

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused as to how the author could write something incorrect in a book about himself. "Is the writing biased?"

"No, nothing like that. The author actually does a pretty good job of just stating the facts, and if there is and opinion it's written off to the side. I'm just saying that if anything sounds...off, feel free to ask me about it, I might be able to clear things up."

"Okay, I'll do that."

Latios had first read about sight-sharing from the same book, and was recalling how he had thought the idea was absurd himself. To be fair, being able to see through another as if you were looking through their own eyes seemed like a bit of a stretch. Though any doubt he had in the concept was now gone as a result of the morning's events, there were still some things he just wasn't ready to believe. Such as the existence of something called a Soul Dew. Some sort of magical orb that holds the spirit of a deceased Latios? Not very plausible, in his opinion. The fact that it was in the chapter labelled "_Myths and Legends_" didn't help either. Then again, even if he had his doubts he knew there was no way he could disprove any of it himself, so he decided to remain indifferent to any information he wasn't sure of.

By now they were beginning to near the peak, and Latias was able to make out some of its finer details.

"Are those...trees? On top of the mountain?" she asked, already knowing the answer. "There's trees growing there?"

"Yeah, what did you expect?"

"Barren rock! Mountains aren't usually green at the peak!"

"Well, that's one of the reasons why I love this place so much, it's just low enough for a garden of sorts to grow at the top," he explained, "Besides, I don't think I'd be able to get any good sleep lying on rock."

"It's pretty neat, I'm not surprised you prefer staying here rather than at the town."

As they approached the mountaintop Latias continued to survey it, looking for any other notable features. Not far from the centre of the peak lay a fairly large, light grey-coloured stone, with the side facing skyward almost perfectly flat. Imprinted on this side was a symbol, one that Latias knew she had seen before.

She took a glance at Latios flying next to her, particularly his chest area. Sure enough, the symbol there matched the one etched into the stone.

"Latios, why is your symbol on the rock over there?" she asked, pointing towards said rock.

Latios knew she would ask sooner or later, and didn't even need to look to know what she was referring to.

"Well, um...I got bored one day, and made that. Looks nice from up here, don't you think?"

"Definitely!" she agreed, "It looks great! How'd you make it?"

"Well, the stone's always been there," he answered, "It, just took some time and a bit of careful and controlled Hyper Beam to carve the symbol into it."

Shortly after he had said this, the two arrived at the mountain and were flying just above the level of the trees on its peak. Latios continued in the direction of the stone they had been conversating about, with Latias following close behind. They stopped nearly simultaneously upon reaching it, and Latias was able to take a closer look the symbol. She noticed that the entire etching was slightly singed, no doubt an after-affect of the Hyper Beam used to carve it. The majority of the scorching had been dulled over time by the elements, thought what was left was a nice touch as it provided noticeable contrast to the lighter-coloured stone. At least, that was her opinion. Latios, meanwhile, was waiting patiently and watching her curious examination of his handiwork. He couldn't help but feel a bit proud that Latias found it intriguing.

"Does it serve any purpose?" she asked, "Like signifying your dominion or something?"

"Oh no, nothing like that! I don't pretend to own the mountain or anything like that."

"Right, so...its just a decoration?"

"Pretty much."

"Well, it's a creative one at that."

"Er...thanks." was all he could think of to respond with, awkwardness slowly setting in again.

Latias finished looking over the symbol and was now observing the surrounding area, searching for anything else of interest.

"So...now what?" Latios asked, "Anything else you wanna do?"

"Um...nothing in particular," she responded, "You got any ideas?"

"Well, we could...uh..." As nice as the area was, there wasn't really much to do around, and it looked like Latios would have to invent an activity of his own to pass the time. "Let me think for a minute..."

Before he could come up with something, he noticed the presence of a third aura somewhere behind. It felt familiar to him, and was approaching from the air. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was, but did so anyway. As he looked to the sky, he noticed the blue-feathered bird soaring towards them. Latias had noticed too, as her head was pointed in the same direction.

"Hi Swellow!" Latios called out to him.

"Hey Latios!" was the response, "You're here early!"

Upon saying this, Swellow swooped down from his altitude made a sharp dive for the ground, pulling up in the last second and using the lift to propel himself into a tree nearby, swiftly landing on a branch and kicking up much more wind than necessary. He was at a position slightly above the two, and looked down at them from the tree he had set down on.

Swellow glanced at Latias, who was observing the new guest herself, before looking back to Latios with a mischievous grin on his face. Latios had a feeling he was about to say something stupid, and returned a stern and disapproving look in attempt to discourage him from whatever it was he was about to do. Swellow wasn't in the least bit deterred.

"So Latios, who's the lucky lady?"

Both Lati immediately glanced at each other, before Latias looked off to the side and turned slightly away out of embarrassment right after making eye contact. She was thankful that her face was covered in feathers, Latios wouldn't be able to see her blushing. Latios turned back to Swellow and gave him an "are you kidding me" look, only adding to his amusement.

"Heh, you know I'm just messing," Swellow said to them both, having had his fun. "Anyways, Latias, I presume?"

Latias turned back to him upon mention of her name, and nodded shyly.

"Well, hello Latias. I'm Swellow, at your service." he said with subtle bow, still grinning slightly.

"Uh...nice to meet you, Swellow." she said, unsure whether the bow was genuine or another antic.

From joker to mock gentleman in about than ten seconds, Latios thought. He rolled his eyes, and decided he would have a bit of fun himself. His eyes glowed blue as he targeted the branch Swellow had settled on with a burst of psychic, seamlessly snapping it in two and causing him to suddenly plummet. As he fell he gave a desperate flap of his wings in an attempt to recover, but to no avail. He hit the ground with a muffled thud, landing on his back with wings outstretched.

Swellow lay there for a moment, chuckled to himself, and began picking himself up off the grass. "I probably deserve that."

Latios looked to Latias, who had a somewhat surprised expression, having not expected Latios' abrupt retaliation.

"_Before you ask, yes, __this is the norm,_" Latios assured her,"_You know you're good friends with someone when you enjoy trying to __annoy the hell outta__ each other on a daily basis._"

"_Really? You two are trying to kill each other, all the time?_"

Though "kill each other" was an exaggeration, he got the point. "_Maybe not all the time, but often. We're as much rivals as friends, you'll get used to it._"

"You know, you two look really strange just staring at each other like that all of a sudden." Swellow interrupted. He was well aware of Latios' abilities, and had managed to guess that telepathy was involved. Still, he might as well have been watching a staring contest while the two were having their own private conversation.

"Sorry," Latios apologized, knowing that Swellow didn't like being left out of the loop. "Just wanted to clear up something with Latias."

"That's alright then," he said, before speaking to Latias, "So, here I thought Latios was the only Eon Pokémon in Epyhlei. You must be new to the region, right?"

"Yeah, only been here a few days." she answered.

"Wow, you're really new then. How did you two manage to stumble upon each other anyway?"

"Well, it's a bit of a long story," Latios started, "You want to hear the whole thing?"

"Of course, I have the time."

"Alright, in that case..."

If Latios was to tell the whole story, he figured he'd start from the dream he had earlier that day. Latias didn't need to know about the sight-share, not yet at least. He had no doubt Swellow would understand, after all, he was the one who woke him up. On the other hand, he'd prefer if Latias wasn't around to hear, she'd had enough surprises for one day and might find the information a bit disconcerting.

"Hey, Latias? How about you get a head start on that book, I take it you can't wait to get to reading it. I'll give Swellow a summary of what happened, we'll get back to you when we're done."

"Oh, okay then. Sure." In reality, she had completely forgotten about the book she was still holding until Latios had mentioned it, but now that he did she couldn't decline the opportunity to satisfy her curiosity.

"I'll be..." she looked around for an appropriate place to settle down. "By that tree, I suppose." she said, pointing.

After receiving a nod in agreement from Latios, she went for the tree and upon reaching it propped herself against the trunk so that she was sitting on the ground with her back supported by it. She took the hardcover out from under her paw and placed it on her lap, flipping past the first few pages and beginning to read.

"So, to begin..." Latios started as soon as he was sure Latias was out of ear-shot, "Remember that nightmare I said I had this morning?"

"The one I woke you from? Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" he asked, wondering where this could possibly be going.

"Let me explain..."

It took the better portion of twenty minutes to tell the story in full, as Latios spared no details in his retelling of the day's events. He covered everything from the sight-share up until their visit to the town, and there was no information he kept to himself. Swellow listened intently, and besides the odd remark or simple question, remained quiet until Latios had concluded his recap.

"Looks like you've had a pretty eventful day, huh?" Swellow started once Latios had finished.

"Definitely, I'm still trying to accept the fact that there's a Latias just a few metres away from us."

"Agreed. Though she does seem a bit...odd. I mean, it's strange that she's a legendary and doesn't even know how to use her own abilities, let alone catch food. It's a miracle she still alive, really."

Latios took a look at Latias, who was still sitting comfortably against the tree and had managed to get through a number of pages since she had started reading. He sighed in reluctant agreement with Swellow.

"I know."

"Don't worry," Swellow assured him, "She'll come around, you'll see."

"I sure hope so..." There was a momentary pause where he watched Latias, recalling her uncertainty to the question of where she came from. He couldn't help but think there was something she wasn't telling him...

"Hey, I have an idea!" Swellow started, smirking, "How about you go and show off you battling skills against me? You know, try and impress her?"

Latios was taken aback. "What? No! You can't be serious. I think she's already plenty impressed with me anyway, judging by her reactions to nearly everything I've done today."

"Oh c'mon, don't so naive. She's the girl of your dreams, after all!"

"Wow, that..." He forced himself to choke back a laugh, now was not the time for humour. "I can't believe you just said that."

"You gotta admit, that was pretty clever." Swellow said with a chuckle.

Latios shook his head in joking disapproval before getting back on topic. "Seriously though, no. I don't like her that way. I've known her for less than a day, and we're barely even friends. Drop the idea, it's too early for stuff like that anyway."

"Whoa, hold on a minute! That was just a joke, I'm not trying to imply anything here. Look, in the most modest of terms, she likes you and you like her, correct? As friends?"

Latios hesitated for a moment. "Well...I guess..."

"In that case, what's the big deal? We'll just have a battle and ask if she wants to watch, if anything she might gain a little more respect for you."

"In this weather?" he groaned.

In the time they had spent upon the mountain, clouds had begun to roll in and the sky had grown progressively darker. A light fog had descended upon the peak, and he had a feeling another storm was coming, albeit a lesser one than yesterday's. Not terrible conditions, but not what he would have preferred.

"Quit looking for excuses! I should be the one complaining about the weather, I'm a bird. Besides, the wind hasn't even picked up that much yet."

Latios thought it over. Swellow could see he was considering the idea, and took the chance to make one last remark that he was sure would give the final push to convince him.

"Unless you're worried you'll lose," he taunted, "And make a fool of yourself in front of the only female of your species around."

Just like that, his mind was made. "You'll be the only one making a fool of himself." He broke into a grin. "Let's see how straight you can fly with the feathers burnt off one of your wings."

"Right then, a battle it is! Go and see if Latias wants to watch."

"Right." He turned and was about to make for Latias before Swellow called out once again.

"Oh, and Latios? It's cute how you got all defensive when you thought I was picturing you two as a couple."

He turned his head back to look at Swellow, giving him the most malicious look he could muster.

"Shut up."

The remark resulted in nothing short of Swellow bursting into a fit of laughter, which Latios pretended to ignore as he flew over towards Latias, who had still not shifted from her previous position. Though she was primarily focused on reading the pages before her, she noticed Latios approaching from the corner of her eye and lowered the book, shifting her gaze to him.

"Hey, you two finished talking?" she said once within a good chatting distance.

"Yep. Enjoying that book?"

"Definitely! It's just that this introduction never ends. As interesting as it is, I want to get to the more practical stuff already."

Latios could recall from when he had read it that the introduction was mostly a biography about the author and why he had wrote the book. Judging by how many pages Latias had gone through, he must have really liked to talk about himself.

"I know what you mean," he agreed, "You'll get there soon enough."

"Yeah, can't wait."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what?"

"Me and Swellow want to have battle. Would you like to watch?"

"A battle?" Her eyes lit up with excitement. "Of course, I'd love to watch! When?"

"Well, right now, we just wanted to ask if you'd like to spectate. Is that fine with you?"

"Yeah, the sooner the better!"

Upon Latias' approval, Latios gestured for her to follow and returned to Swellow.

"Hey Latias, you watching?" Swellow asked once Latios had returned with Latias.

"Yep!"

"Good, you'll get to see me get payback for last time!" He eyed Latios for the last part of the sentence. They had had a battle two day before, where Latios claimed victory when Swellow had gotten unlucky with a sudden gust of wind that prevented him from properly dodging a Dragon Pulse. Swellow had been nagging for a rematch since.

"Um...don't take this the wrong way," Latias said somewhat sheepishly, "But this doesn't really seem like a fair fight..."

"What, you think just because he's a legendary dragon he has the advantage?"

She looked to Latios, puzzled, then back to Swellow.

"Err...yes, actually."

"Well...you'd probably be right. But by no means does that make it a one-sided battle! I'll have you know I've had my fair share of victories over him, so don't take me for some pushover."

"Trust me Latias, he's tougher than he looks," Latios interrupted in an attempt to prevent the conversation from escalating, "After having battled together so many times over the years, he really is above average."

Not a lot got Swellow angry, but nothing offended him more than being presumed weak. He knew Latias' question was a reasonable one, but couldn't help but get a little defensive the more Latias pressed the subject.

"Sorry Swellow, didn't mean to offend you." she apologized.

"That's fine, no hard feelings. So!" He faced Latios. "Shall we begin?"

"Of course, let me just get some distance."

Latios flew backward a few dozen metres, putting some mandatory starting space between him and Swellow. Latias hovered to a point off to the side and somewhere between the two.

"I think Latias should count down, it'll be more fair that way." Latios suggested.

"You're right," Swellow agreed. "Whenever you're ready, Latias."

Latias nodded. "Alright then. On three, okay?"

Both Latios and Swellow nodded, and each got into an optimal starting position. Latios set himself up for a charge forward and a Steel Wing, hoping to gain the upper hand as soon as the battle started. Swellow remained neutral but alert, Latios couldn't tell his opening plans from his posture alone.

"One...Two..."

Swellow grinned, and Latios smirked back. There was no way he would let him win, not with Latias watching from the sidelines.

"Three."

He darted forward before Latias had even finished the word, and was closing the distance as fast as possible. His wings glowed white as he prepared the attack, intent on hitting Swellow with the edge of his right wing as he passed him. He flew by Latias, who made a slight yelp and instinctively shifted back, startled by his sudden lunge. In barely a second he had almost reached Swellow, who at this distance would have long ran out of time to react. It looked like he would be taking the attack full force, after which Latios would be able to follow up with another attack while Swellow was still recovering, leading to a quick and decisive victory for him.

No such luck, as Swellow completely disappeared from his view a moment before taking the blow. It was as if he had just evaporated into the air. Latios immediately halted his charge and scanned the area around him. Lose sight, lose the fight. Almost as soon as he had begun searching, he found Swellow a few metres directly above where he had been earlier, no doubt having used an Agility move to escape the attack.

"You're so predictable," Swellow mocked, "You'll have to be more creative than that."

Latios ignored him and retaliated by firing a yellowish-green beam from his mouth in Swellow's direction, a Dragonbreath attack. The beam appeared to have given a direct hit, as fragments of it broke off from the main beam and scattered to the sides near Swellow's position, hinting of an impact. Satisfied, Latios eased off the attack to see the aftermath. He had expected to see Swellow severely weakened by the sustained attack, and possibly plummeting to the ground. What he hadn't expected was Swellow to be barely a metre in front of him, unscathed, charging him for a Wing Attack. Unbeknownst to Latios, Swellow had used a Protect to render the attack futile. He hit him square in the chest, knocking the breath out of him and disrupting his focus enough to halt his levitation and send him into a spin towards the ground.

The attack hadn't done too much damage, but it still managed to have stunned him for a moment. When he realized what was happening, he had barely enough time to come out of the spin and pull up from the ground, narrowly missing a tree's branches as he did so. He checked his six o'clock position and saw that Swellow was right on his tail, putting him at an immediate disadvantage. Latios could out-fly him, and thought of a way he could use this asset as an offensive tactic, removing Swellow from his favoured position and dealing some damage in the process.

He pulled up hard and suddenly, a maneuver Swellow would likely be unable to follow, until he faced straight at the sky. He accelerated as much as gravity would allow for a few seconds, before flipping over so he was now facing downward at Swellow, who had attempted to match his ascent and was in the perfect position for Latios to proceed with the attack. Latios dove straight for him, gathering speed with no restraint in order to deliver the most kinetic energy possible on impact. Swellow saw what he was trying to do and banked left in an attempt to dodge, which Latios was able to make a last-second adjustment in heading to compensate for. He headbutted Swellow dead-center with a blow that made even his own forehead hurt, though he figured that the bruise he had been given that morning was partly to blame. Swellow made an "oof" noise and lost his command of the air of around him, falling and spinning out not unlike Latios had earlier.

Latios took the opportunity to prepare a Thunderbolt, using the time he had been given to charge the attack as much as possible to deliver a finishing strike. Even if the super-effective electric attack didn't end the battle, it would be easy enough to follow up with something else and claim victory over the weakened Swellow. Latios waited until Swellow was just beginning to recover, before he unleashed the blinding yellow bolt towards him. Perhaps he had waited a little too long, for Swellow was just barely able to roll to the side and avoid the attack.

"TIME OUT! TIME OUT! HOLD ON A SECOND!" Swellow yelled as he came to a stop.

Latios groaned. "What? You tired or something?"

"No electric attacks! That's cheap!"

"You've got to be kidding me..."

"What? You too much of a coward to play fair?"

"Fine then! No electric attacks." It's not like he would be needing them anyway. "Happy?"

"Very. TIME IN!"

Swellow wasted no time and began charging an attack in front of his beak, the distinctive orange colour revealing it as a Hyper Beam. Latios made the split-second decision to begin charging a beam of his own, a bright purple orb forming before his mouth the characteristic hue of a Luster Purge. They would be forced into firing both beams at each other, locking the two into a stalemate until one of them gave out and took the hit. Though Hyper Beam was the more powerful attack, it had the consequence of being very intensive to use. Latios knew that Swellow would likely be the first to give up, leaving him wide open for the Luster Purge he had chosen to use for just this reason, he could maintain it longer. That is, assuming Latios could withstand the assault long enough for Swellow to run out of energy in the first place. He didn't have to win the deadlock, just survive it. Looking for a way to give him an advantage, he thought up an unorthodox tactic of laying himself on the grass to conserve more psychic energy for the attack. Though it probably wouldn't make much of a difference as levitation took next to no effort on his part, whatever focus he could divert to the attack would be helpful.

Swellow was first to unleash his attack, followed almost immediately by Latios as soon as he noticed he had ran out of time to prepare. The two beams impacted into each other and protested with a loud screeching noise, coloured sparks cascading in random directions. From the beginning, Swellow was winning, his Hyper Beam gradually forcing back Latios' Luster Purge. At this rate, Latios would be doomed to take the brunt of the attack as it eventually broke through, severely hampering him for the rest of the battle and easily putting Swellow in the leading position. He would be having none of that, not today. Not when he knew Latias was surely nearby, possibly holding her breath as she watched the standoff, as she watched him slowly succumbing to Swellow's more powerful attack...

Latios shut his eyes and attempted to remove himself from the physical world, dulling his senses and directing his concentration to the one place it was needed. Nothing else mattered, and nothing else existed for all he cared. His sole purpose at this very moment was to deliver that Luster Purge, and that's what he was going to do.

There was a distant cry, followed by a muffled thud.

It was raining. This was the first thing Latios noticed when he came to, the constant patting of droplets hitting his feathers. He was lying on his front, exhausted and head throbbing. Suddenly, he made a disheartening revelation. If he had been passed out, it would mean he had lost the battle.

He threw himself up off the ground, anxious to survey what had happened. He noticed Latias a short distance beside and facing him with a concerned expression, before his vision went faded and he went light-headed from the sudden movement.

"Agh, Latias...wha..." was all he managed to say before crashing back down to the ground, nearly passing out again.

He was about to try and raise himself up again but was interrupted by Latias, who spoke in a calm and quiet voice, almost a whisper.

"Don't worry, you won. Just rest for a bit."

"I...I did?" he said in disbelief, "But...I passed out, didn't I?"

"Not before Swellow. He couldn't keep up his Hyper Beam, and you managed to score a hit that took him out. I saw your head go limp a few seconds after, but trust me, Swellow fainted first. Besides, I don't think passing out would count as fainting."

"Oh..." He took Latias' advice and shut his eyes, the news being enough to allow him to relax. "How long was I out?"

"It's only been a few minutes. It's started to rain, by the way."

"Yeah, I know. Wait a minute, the book! Where's the b-" In his momentary panic he had opened his eyes, and was slightly startled to see Latias lying directly opposite of him, her snout less than a foot away from his. She looked quite content, smiling and showing no concern or worry whatsoever.

"The book?" she replied, "Don't worry, I already thought of that. It's in this little tree hollow I found, it'll stay dry."

"Oh...okay then." he said as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Where's Swellow?"

"Still fainted. You know, it was pretty neat to be able to see you battle, really amazing."

She leaned in, and Latios could already tell her motives. This time, he brought himself to return the notion, rubbing his snout against hers as she did to his. When it was over, Latios looked to the side, happy but somewhat embarrassed at the same time. What had convinced him to join her in the movement was beyond him, but he was glad he had done so.

"Thanks for asking if I wanted to watch," Latias continued, "It sure was quite the spectacle."

"No problem. Hey, maybe you could join in a battle with either me or Swellow sometime, if you like."

Latios had thought she would respond flamboyantly to the request, but her downcast expression showed otherwise.

"No...I'd rather not."

Latios was about to ask why, when they heard a rustling of feathers somewhere nearby. Swellow was probably stirring. Latias turned her head, while Latios didn't bother.

"Yep, that would be Swellow," she confirmed, "I'll go talk to him for a minute."

"Alright. I'll just lie here..." He again closed his eyes and laid his head down on the cool, moist grass. Something about it felt refreshing.

Latias flew over to Swellow, who was just beginning to pick himself off the ground.

"You alright? You look like a mess." Latias commented as she drew near.

It was true, he did look like a mess. His feathers were all out of alignment and twisted, not to mention the multitude of burn marks he was covered in.

"Ah, don't worry about me," he said as he stood up, "It looks worse than it really is, I'll have these feathers looking like new in no time."

Latias assumed he was being honest and not just trying to act tough, which in her mind was a very real possibility.

"You fought really well!" she complimented, "I'm impressed, for a moment I thought you had him."

"Yeah, for a moment I did too. Is he sleeping over there?" Swellow gestured a wing to where Latios was still lying.

"Nope. Still here." Latios called out, having heard the whole conversation. He remained still but opened an eye to Swellow.

"Good battle! I can tell you were really...'motivated' today."

"Agreed, that was a pretty close one," he said, ignoring the stress Swellow put on "motivated", "Really surprised me with that Wing Attack."

"Hey, you're the one who caught me off guard with how you were able to hold out with that Luster Purge. I thought you'd made the wrong choice of attack, turns out that was me. Anyways, I think I'll be going before the weather starts turning nasty. I'll be seeing you two tomorrow!"

"Right then. Have a good one!" Latios said his farewell, followed by Latias.

"Bye Swellow!"

Swellow gave a parting wave before taking to the sky, eventually disappearing in the distance.

"Where does he stay during the night?" Latias asked as she returned to Latios.

"Somewhere in the forest. He sort of drifts around until he finds a good spot. He might come by the town if the weather gets really bad, though that doesn't happen very often.

"Huh. You mind if I pick some berries? I'm a bit hungry."

"Go ahead. Everything here's as much yours as it is mine."

"Do you want any?"

Though he hadn't eaten in quite some time, what he felt he could use most at the moment was sleep. "No thanks, I'm not hungry. I think I'll just doze off, actually."

"Yeah, think I'll do the same right after I eat. It's been quite the day. Mind if I sleep in a tree?"

"Not at all."

Latias left the scene, gone to find some food to comfortably sustain her for the night.

Quite the day was an understatement, this had been one of the most eventful days of his life thus far, if not the most eventful. So much excitement had happened in such a short time, both he and Latias deserved a rest. Even if some things about Latias didn't add up, he was still overjoyed to have another Lati around, and hoped this would be the beginning of a lasting relationship. Though he would have to teach her the fundamentals, he was sure it would be well worth the trouble.

His eyes closed, and nothing but the sound of the consistent patter of rain to his ears, he drifted into a content sleep.

* * *

So, first battle scene. It certainly won't be the last, so I'd love to hear what you thought of it. Does the pace need to be quicker? Is there too much detail? Too little? Did it drag on for too long? Or was it too short? More importantly, did you enjoy it? I know I sure enjoyed writing it.

Also, Swellow sure is quite the character, isn't he?


	7. Chapter 7: Burning Questions

Saturday, I said. That was a lie. Short chapter, I said. Also a lie, but I think that's a reasonable tradeoff. Also, 2,600 words in one day must be some sort of new personal record. Well, there goes my weekend...

Nah, I'm kidding, it was well worth it.

Funny coincidence, there was a storm where I live shortly after I wrote around the first quarter of this chapter.

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

_-Burning Questions-_

It was early in the morning, still rather dark and with a couple hours left in the night. The drizzle from dusk had since developed into a light thunderstorm, though one that was much less dramatic than the last night's. Latios was laid on the same spot on the grass as earlier, with Latias suspended on a branch in a tree not too far away.

There was a sudden ear-splitting crack, that sounded as if an explosion had gone off nearby. The thunderous boom made the very air rumble, and the noise instantaneously jolted Latios from a state of deep sleep to one of panicked alert. He instinctively threw himself off the ground where he had just been sleeping and into a hover, adrenaline replaced any drowsiness he would have normally had after waking. He scanned his immediate surroundings with urgency, trying to find the origin of the sound as it's volume gave the impression that it had come from every direction at once. As he looked to his side he just managed to catch a glimpse of Latias as she fell a surplus of two dozen feet, helpless to stop her limp body's descent. She bounced slightly as she hit the ground, before coming to a stop and lying motionless on her front. He had sucked his breath in and felt a sharp sinking sensation as he watched her fall, and immediately rushed over to see what had happened.

From what he could see, she appeared to have fallen out of the tree she was now lying under, landing on her right side just below the wing. This was supported by the numerous twigs and leaves that had fallen along with her. One particularly large branch, larger than her, had broken off the tree and was now lying about a metre from her own position. He recalled Latias asking if she could sleep in a tree, so logic deducted that the branch she was on must have snapped and sent her to the ground along with itself. Still, that didn't explain the sound he had heard earlier. A branch of this size breaking would have made considerable noise, but it wouldn't even begin to compare to the volume of the snap he had awoken to.

"Latias? Hey, you okay?" he asked in a panic as he stopped a short distance in front.

No response. She continued to remain still, apart from raising and lowering herself at regular intervals with each somewhat laboured breath she took. Though it would take some sort of freak accident for a fall from that height to be lethal, at least for a Lati, Latios found it a reassuring sign. At least he knew she was still alive, as he had been unable to involuntarily sense her aura in his stressed state of mind.

"Latias? LATIAS!" he repeated, to no avail.

He moved closer and was about to try and shake her, but quickly decided against it. If she happened to be injured, moving her could make things even worse. He settled on lying down just in front of her, and with some hesitation softly rubbing the side of his head against hers, hoping it would produce some result.

"Latias...?"

Latias had lost all her senses apart from that of feel. Her hearing was knocked out of her with the sound of something like an explosion, leaving only a consistent ringing in her ears that blocked out the rest of the world's noise. Despite the fact that she had been sleeping, the momentary flash of light had seared a burning streak into her vision that made her reluctant to open her eyes again. Any sort of scent was replaced with the persistent odor of singed bark, preventing her sense of smell from functioning properly. Apart from the dry taste in her mouth all that was left was her sense of feeling, and it told her two things. First, she had fallen out of her tree and hit the ground with a painful impact that had managed to knock the breath out of her. Second, and in significant contrast, something fuzzy was now pleasantly brushing against her head. It was rather relaxing, and she wanted nothing more than to lie there and rest until the ache in her side subsided. And until the ringing in her ears died down, the stinging in her eyes stopped, the burnt smell ceased...

"_Latias? Can you hear me?"_

The sudden voice startled her, causing her to jump slightly and throw her eyes open before realizing it had only been the voice of the blue Eon she saw before her now. Her eyesight was surprisingly better off than she had expected with little more than a small streak inhibiting her vision, as if she had just seen the flash of a camera. It would fade with time, no doubt.

"_Oh, hi Latios. Didn't notice you were here."_

"Latias! You're awake! What happened? Are you hurt?"

She just looked at him quizzically, only adding to his worry.

"Latias...? You alright?"

Unbeknownst to Latios, Latias' hearing was still severely handicapped, with his voice sounding like a muffled and almost inaudible murmur to her. She shook her head to try and show it was of no use and pointed to her left ear, which didn't work very well in context to Latios' question.

"What? Your head? Did you hit your head?" he asked, fearing the worst.

Latias sighed, still unable to understand a single word.

_Latios. Can't hear, my ears are ringing._

The attempt at telepathy got her nowhere as Latios had already closed the link expecting her to respond to him verbally. She hadn't the slightest clue how to set up a link herself, and would have to rely on Latios to do it for her. She gestured to Latios' head and then to her own, hoping he would get the idea. He looked puzzled for a moment, before managing to catch on.

"_You want to speak through telepathy?"_

"_Yeah," _she replied with a nod,_ "I can't really hear anything."_

"_What? You alright? What happened?"_

"_Did you hear that noise from earlier? I think it blew out my hearing..."_

Latios was devastated by the fact, much more so than Latias.

"_But...I think I'll be fine." _She saw the deeply concerned look on his face, and tried to console him. _"It doesn't hurt much, I don't think it's permanent. In fact, I think it's already gotten better since a few minutes ago."_

"_You sure you're okay?"_

"_Yeah. Don't worry about it."_

"_What about that fall you took? Are you hurt?"_

Though there was a rather uncomfortable ache in her side where she had impacted the ground, it was nothing major. Besides, there was no need to worry Latios any further.

"_Really, I'm fine."_

"_Well, that's good to hear,"_ he said with a sigh of relief,_ "You're lucky to not have landed on your wing, there's a good chance you would've broken it with a fall like that. What happened anyways? How did the branch break?" _he asked, gesturing to the nearby piece of lumber that fallen with Latias.

"_To be honest, I don't really..."_ Mid-sentence, she noticed the end of the branch that had broken off was badly singed at the end. Suddenly, everything came together into one logical conclusion. _"Wait, I think the tree got hit by lightning!"_

"_What!? Well, that would explain the sound earlier, but are you su-" _He abruptly stopped as he looked up to where Latias had fallen from, only to see a portion of the tree was in flames. He knew he had smelled something burning earlier. _"Latias! The tree is on fire!"_

"_WHAT?"_

Latios took off from the ground, flying up so that he was at a distance from and eye level with the treetop to assess the situation. Latias flew over to the trunk and fumbled about with her arm in a tree hollow until she managed to escape with its contents, joining Latios. She held the familiar book between her paws, giving it a quick look over for any signs of damage before moving it to a more comfortable position between her side and left arm.

Meanwhile, Latios was mulling over how this could have happened. The fire had been caused by the lightning, no doubt, but why had he not noticed it until now? It must have just developed recently, the wet bark slowing its growth until it had enough heat to burn through anyway. It would have been too small for him to notice during his approach to Latias, and there were too many leaves for the light from the flames to have reached the ground where they were lying, hence why he hadn't noticed until he'd looked up. It was quite a big tree, after all, and the fire appeared to have started near the top which would have made it difficult to see from his lower altitude...

_Argh! Focus Latios!_

Though he was angry with himself for having let this happen, making excuses wouldn't solve anything. Now was not the time for trying to justify his mistakes, he needed to figure out how to fix this as soon as possible. He could rationalize things later.

The rain and general dampness of the tree were doing their part in containing the fire, but it was only gaining strength and it wouldn't be long until none of that would matter and the whole tree would be ablaze. He could just leave it to burn, but he'd rather not have the mess of ash and singed ground in the middle of the garden. Besides, he liked that tree. He decided he'd have to put it out.

"Latias! Is your hearing better?" he yelled. Though she was right next to him, she probably wouldn't be able to make out a single word if he spoke normally.

"A bit. I can hear you, mostly."

Her partial deafness made her words come out louder than she thought they did, but it would do. Latios would rather not spend the extra energy that was required to maintain telepathy with Latias.

"Good. Now listen, I'm gonna try and take out the fire with Water Pulse, think you could help out?"

"I would, but I don't know any water attacks! What am I supposed to do?"

"Don't worry, I'll handle that part," he answered as he brought his paws together, and creating a glowing orb of deep blue light that continually expanded in size, "Do you know Mist Ball?"

"What?" she asked, partly because she couldn't hear him clearly and partly because she had never heard of such a move before.

"Mist Ball, makes a ball of mist, only Latias can use it as far as I know."

"Sorry, don't know what you're talking about."

This was unfortunate, not just because of their current ordeal. Latios had read about Mist Ball in the book Latias now had, and had been interested in learning more ever since. The book told that only Latias could utilize it, and he himself had proven this true on countless occasions. Now that there was a Latias around, he had hoped he would get the chance to see the attack for himself, but either the book was wrong or this particular Latias was incompetent. As much as he didn't want to think it, something told him the second option was the more likely.

The ball of concentrated water Latios was tending to was now over half a metre in diameter, and with a directing burst of psychic energy he sent it charging towards his target, the centre of the burning mass. With nothing to contain it, the sphere grew considerably larger as it travelled and by the time it reached the tree it was large enough to swallow up the entire burning portion, exploding into a swirling brine of water that enveloped a large portion of the tree as it did so. The attack had a significant effect on the fire, leaving just a few isolated flames as opposed to the earlier inferno. However, this current state would be short lived if the rogue flames were given the opportunity to rejuvenate themselves, and Latios began preparing his next attack the moment after launching his previous one, forming another blue sphere in much the same way. If only there was a way to stop or at least slow the recovery of the fire to take some of the pressure off him, he thought. He then remembered Latias, who was still hovering idly next to him.

"You think you could put a Safeguard on the tree? It would help keep the flames off it."

"Err...I don't...uh...actually know that move."

"Wha...really?" he replied, unimpressed, "Well, that's just great!"

Safeguard was a relatively simple move to use, and according to the book and his own experience, it was an ability that just came naturally to both species of Lati. Like flying. She'd managed to figure that out, why not this? Perhaps she had forgotten it over time due to lack of practise. Whatever the case, her incapabilities were beginning to frustrate him.

"Sorry! Anything else I could do?" Latias asked, hoping to be of some use.

At least she was willing to help, but that would only get them so far. Latios was running out of ideas.

"Alright, uh...could you use some Psychic to try and isolate the smaller fires?"

She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it in hesitation. Latios could already tell what she was going to say.

"I...don't know Psychic eith-"

"Fine then, screw it!" he snapped at her, his temper taking over, "You just sit there, I'll do this myself if you really insist on being so useless."

Latias didn't defend herself. She sulked slightly, but remained silent.

It wasn't so much the fact that Latios would have to fight the fire on his own that angered him, it would only require a bit more effort on his part. It was that Latias had failed so many of the expectations laid out for her that upset him. She looked around the same age as him, and yet showed the adequacy of a child. On second thought, less even. He sighed very audibly to make sure Latias would hear as he returned his attention to the task at hand.

He'd rather not have to use a third Water Pulse, so he'd even the odds with the strategies he had hoped Latias would use before launching the second sphere at the fire. His eyes glowed blue for a brief moment, and the tree's structure took on a blue hue as a Safeguard surrounded it. His eyes glowed blue once more as he targeted the recovering flames with Psychic, containing them within a field of energy. Confident that the plan would work, he released the Water Pulse he had been previously holding back. It impacted the tree much like before, and whatever embers survived the hit were soon snuffed out by the Safeguard and Psychic combination.

Latias had been watching his technique, and was impressed.

"Hey, you did it! You made that look..." She paused as soon as she caught glimpse of Latios' expression. He looked just about ready to devour her. "...easy."

"Easy?" he barked at her, "That's because it was! Easy enough, that you should have done it. So I'm going to ask, why did I have to? You're a legendary psychic type, and you can't even use Psychic! Why!?"

"I...really don't know. Please...don't yell..." She had a sullen look on her face, and avoided making direct eye contact.

"Don't know? Don't know!? Is there anything you do know!?"

Latias appeared to cringe at the words, edging ever so slightly backward with each remark.

"Let's see here," Latios continued, "You don't know how to hunt. You don't know telepathy. You don't know telekinesis. You don't know Mist Ball, Safeguard or even Psychic. Do you know ANY moves at all?"

She took a breath, then quickly uttered, "No."

"Unbelievable. None? Not at all?"

She shut her eyes, and did a single shake of her head.

"Any newborn Pokémon knows some sort of basic move. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"But...none of that's my fault."

"Not your fault? What, did your parents drop you on your head when you were a pup? And I'm not done yet either! How do you not know where you're from? And why did you claim you're from Hoenn after having told me you're not sure?"

Latias remained silent.

"Not going to tell me? Maybe I should just read your mind and find out for myself, see how much you really 'don't know'."

She immediately looked straight back at him, shocked and with genuine fear in her eyes.

"Yeah, Lati can read minds. Didn't know that either I presume?"

"You're...lying. Trying to scare me." she said without much confidence, her voice quivering.

"Right now, you're considering leaving. Getting away from here as fast as possible. Don't try it, I can fly faster."

"STOP IT!" She shut her eyes as tight as possible and lowered her head to clutch the sides with her paws.

Latios did as she requested, the surprise and volume of the yell startling and knocking sense into him. He knew he had gone too far. He never used the ability of mind-reading outside of dire situations, delving into another's thoughts was a personal violation like no other. He wouldn't be too happy with someone snooping around his own mind, so he usually refrained from doing so to others. Using the ability as a threat was quite a low for him, and he knew it was a mistake to have done so.

"I'm...sorry. I won't do that again."

Latias slowly took her paws off her head, and opened her eyes. He could see they were watering.

He sighed, the anger drained out of him. "Look, I need an answer. Could you just tell me why?"

Latias looked to be in deep thought for a few seconds. The response that followed was the last thing he had been expecting.

"Look through my memories, all of them," she said, voice shaky and trembling, "Find out for yourself."

"What? You sure about that?"

She nodded.

"Well...okay."

He tapped into Latias mind, and began sifting through her bank of memories, going backwards. He saw her fall from the lightning strike, his battle against Swellow, their visit to the town, her failed attempt at hunting, her stalking him from behind a tree, even the sight-share from the morning which looked identical to what he had seen during his dream. Then there were a few days of her generally wandering around without any real significant events. What he noticed was that she had eaten only berries over this entire period, no protein whatsoever. It's not a surprise she was so starved when they had first met. He saw the Remoraid she had caught and subsequently dropped like she said before, it was the only fish she had managed to catch over what he saw were several attempts. Suddenly, the film reel of memories he had been watching abruptly ended, the last of which was Latias waking up in a random patch of forest.

Latios was shocked. This indeed answered all of the questions he had, though it wasn't a very satisfying answer.

"You...have memory loss. So that's why..." He had no other words, and a long silence ensued.

"I'm so sorry...I didn't know." he finally said.

Latias looked defeated, and didn't respond.

"Latias...?"

"Ironic, isn't it? You 'didn't know'. I thought not knowing things was my job. Still, it's not 'your fault', is it?"

It was Latios' turn to sulk.

"I lost it back there. You didn't deserve any of that. I don't blame you for wanting to leave. In fact, it might be better if you do, at least for a while..."

Now Latios was the one who couldn't bring himself to maintain eye contact. Funny, he thought, how they've switched roles.

"But...I don't want to leave." she answered.

Why would she want to stay here, with him? He had scolded and downright insulted her with no good reason. Instead of simply asking her he allowed himself to get furious and attack her when she had not really done anything to provoke him. He was completely at fault, and she had every right to want to leave.

"Why not? Why stay after all the things I've said?"

"Because...I don't want to be alone."

"Wh-what?"

"I woke up in the middle of some unfamiliar place, no idea who I was or how I got there. I wandered around for days, lost, confused and hungry. I was a legendary Pokémon, and yet I had no idea how to be one. I mean, it took me what felt like over an hour just to figure out how to pick myself off the ground and float, never mind actually fly. I couldn't even feed myself, and I'm supposed to be top of the food chain. Everything seemed so hopeless, I was beginning to come to terms that I was going to die out there. Then, by sheer luck, I managed to stumble upon you. I was terrified of you at first, especially after you almost choked me, but you actually turned out to be pretty kind. You gladly fed me, even catching a fish for me when I couldn't do so myself. You tried to teach me how to hunt on my own, and in just two attempts I made a lot of progress thanks to some helpful advice from you. When I told you I didn't have the psychic powers that you had, you took it much better than I thought you would. You promised you'd teach me those abilities later, and even found me this book so I could learn more about things like that. You allowed me to tag along with you, introducing me to your friends at the town and Swellow, and shared your own home with me so I'd have a place to sleep. All these things might not have seemed like much to you at the time, but to me, they meant the world. Because...well, they are my world, this might as well be only the fourth day of my life. You're my only friend, and you accepted me when I needed one most. You're all I have in this world...that's why I don't want to leave. I don't want to be alone again..."

"Latias...I..."

Latios was having trouble processing what he had just heard. Did he really mean that much...to her? He was the only one she had in this world, and he had shunned her. How could he have possibly been so thick? He was her only friend...

"But...your thoughts...you wanted to leave..." His eyes were tearing up and he was having difficulty maintaining a constant pitch.

Latias shook her head.

"I didn't want to leave you, I just wanted to get away from the argument. I couldn't stand to hear you yell at me like that...especially knowing it was partly my fault. I should have told you from the beginning, I don't blame you for getting angry."

"Then why couldn't you just tell me?" he asked. Part of him wanted some sort of punishment, Latias was being too forgiving. He was wrong, not her, he didn't deserve this...

"Because...I was worried you wouldn't accept me for it." Her voice too, was trembling. "That you'd think I was worthless...and abandon me for it..."

Latios couldn't take it anymore. He rushed over to her and threw his arms around her, laying the side of his head against hers and moistening the feathers behind her ear with tears. He couldn't help himself.

"I would never abandon you! Of course I accept you as you are, you're not worthless to me."

Instead of recoiling like he had expected, Latias had also embraced him, and was soaking the feathers on the side of his neck.

"Thank you..."

They stayed in this position for what felt like a while, neither really crying so much as tearing up uncontrollably. It was awkward, but neither wanted to withdraw.

A bolt of lightning appeared not too far from the mountain, and the subsequent roar of thunder caused Latias to jump and move back a bit, turning in the direction of the sound.

She sighed after regaining composure. "I don't think I'll ever get over the sound of thunder after today."

"Yeah, I don't really like it either. The lightning is nice to watch though."

"I guess."

There was a pause as they both looked in the distance, watching the occasional white streak. The sky was just as bleak as before, with no sign of day in sight.

"We should go back to sleep." he suggested.

"Agreed."

Latios flew underneath a nearby tree, and laid down on the grass, which wasn't too damp from the rain due to the shade the tree provided.

"Are you going back to a tree?" he asked.

Latias looked back to her previous spot, the battle-damaged tree that had lost a good quarter of its leaves in the recent incident.

"I'd rather not. Mind if I sleep next to you? The thunder is a bit unnerving..."

"Sure, go right ahead."

With this, Latias set down right next to him, laying the book she was holding underneath her to keep the rain off it. She wouldn't admit it, but Latios knew she wanted to sleep next to him because it would bring her comfort.

"It's...colder on the ground." she remarked.

"Well, there's no leaves to block the wind like there would be if you were in a tree so..."

"Yeah, that's probably why."

To Latios' confusion, Latias looked somewhat disappointed. In trying to figure it out, it reminded him of something Swellow had said on the topic once, probably over a lunch conversation or something a few years ago. Some thing like, _"If a girl says she's cold, it means she wants you to hold her,"_. He couldn't believe he was about to take advice from Swellow, but for now that seemed like the best option. If Swellow was wrong, he would set his tail feathers on fire for making him look like an idiot. He wasn't in a very good position to somehow hold Latias, so he settled on shifting over so that they were right next to each other and his wing was covering her. She didn't resist, in fact, it seemed to have made her happy, judging by the smile.

"Is that better?" Latios asked, unsure of himself.

"It is, thanks!" She laid her head flat and went to watching the flashing spectacle. Latios did the same.

"'Thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening...'" he said after a few seconds of gazing.

"What?"

"Just a song I heard on the radio a couple times back when I was in Hoenn. Wait, you don't know what a radio is, do you?"

"I do, actually. It's a kind of box of electronics that plays music. I remember what things are, just not who I am."

"Huh...most Pokémon in Epyhlei don't know about any of those human inventions, it took me about a week to get Swellow to understand how a bike works. You say you woke up here a few days ago, so you must have been in another region before that because there were never any Latias in the region before you arrived. Maybe you are from Hoenn, afterall."

"Maybe. I really wonder what my life was like before this..."

Latias yawned, then curled her head to the side.

"Anyways, I'm going to sleep," she said before closing her eyes, "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight then."

Latios too closed his eyes, intent on finally ending what felt like the longest day of his life.

_I really wonder what your life was like before this too._

* * *

THE DRAMA! I CAN BARELY HANDLE IT!

Apologies if that was a bit cheesy, I wouldn't argue with you. Touching, but cheesy. If by some miracle this chapter made you tear up, one of my many life goals is complete.

Also, notice how the title is "Burning" Questions? Get it? Burning? No? Well, I thought it was genius when I came up with it...


	8. Chapter 8: Eon 101

I'm so glad I could finally get this finished. This chapter had been half-finished and on hold for such a long time, I really feel like I've neglected it. The next chapter won't take nearly as long, that's a promise.

* * *

_-Eon 101-_

Latias awoke to an unusual warmth on one side of her face, the side that was facing up towards the sky. She opened an eye, closing it immediately upon seeing the familiar bright yellow glare of the sun. She raised her head off the ground so that she was no longer curled to the side and opened her eyes again, blinking repeatedly for a few moments to get rid of the temporary visual blur that came with waking up. The spot where she had previously rested her head was occupied by a sunray that had managed to poke its way through the leaves of the tree she was under and make it to the ground.

"Hey, you're finally up,"

She turned to her left, the direction of the voice, and saw Latios in much the same position as she had left him. He had awoken first, but didn't appear to have ever left her side. They were still right next to each other, his right wing lightly resting on her.

"Sleep well?"

"Yes," she answered, still drowsy from having just woken up, "Fell right asleep, you?"

"I slept pretty well too, I think we both earned it after yesterday."

"Definitely. Did you just wake up?"

"No, I woke up...maybe half an hour ago?"

"And you're still here?"

"Well...yeah," he said sheepishly, "I didn't want to wake you up by accident."

"Aw, c'mon. Don't worry about things like that! I'd rather wake up early than oversleep anyway."

"Well, you had quite the night, I thought you deserved the extra rest. Besides, nothing wrong with having a lie-in once in a while."

Latios purposely left out the part about him thinking she looked cute while she slept, especially curled up like she had been. He was a bit ashamed of the fact that he had just enjoyed watching her sleep for about half an hour, though what else did he have to do?

"Anyways," he continued, "Really sorry for turning a bit nasty earlier today, I kinda lost my temper."

"A bit?"

Latios lowered his head, looking rueful.

"Hey, cheer up," Latias said, realizing that he had taken her previous comment more seriously than intended, "You already know I forgive you. The sooner you stop beating yourself up over it, the better."

"Listen, I want to make it up to you."

"Seriously, it's fine. Just drop the subject."

"No, you don't understand. This isn't just about earlier, it's about you."

"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked, now too curious to downright decline.

"You've lost your memories, and with them any attacks, skills and abilities you may have learned in your life."

"Yes, I know that already."

"You need to relearn those things, and..."

Latios took a breath, knowing that he wouldn't be able to take back his words once he had said them.

"As the only other Lati in the region I feel it's my responsibility to be your teacher, and help you become a full-fledged Latias again."

Latias blinked as she took a quick moment to process the words.

"Really? You'd do that for me? Wow, you're the best!" she said with excitement, which soon dissipated and was replaced by concern. "Only...I don't know if I can."

"Why?" Latios asked as he took to the air and went into a hover nearby, taking a moment to stretch before continuing. "What makes you think you wouldn't be able to?"

Latias too lifted herself off the ground and floated in front of Latios to answer.

"Well...I don't know if I'm at all capable. I mean, everything I've tried so far has been a failure, more or less. Besides I don't even know where to start!"

Latios lowered one ear, tilted his head slightly and dropped his eyelids, giving her a disdainful look.

"Don't give me any of that. You're as much of a Latias as I am a Latios, there's no reason for you to be doubting yourself. Okay?"

"Okay..." she responded somewhat vaguely, still skeptical.

"You taught yourself how to fly, didn't you? That's already something. Trust me, you'll do just fine."

"I guess... So, where do we start?"

"Let's start with something basic," He thought for a moment, trying to think of what Latias would need to learn most urgently. "How about a move? Some sort of attack?"

"Sure! An attack sounds good." she said, already excited at the prospect.

"Alright then, anything specific you wanna try?"

Latias scratched the base of her ear as she thought of the moves she had seen Latios use, recalling his battle with Swellow the other day. They had all looked quite spectacular, though one attack in particular stood out in her mind more than the rest.

"When you and Swellow were battling, you countered his Hyper Beam with some sort of beam of your own. I really liked that one, what was it?"

Latios sighed, he had been hoping she wouldn't pick that attack in particular.

"That was a Luster Purge. Sorry, but you can't learn that move."

Latias thought his immediate and decisive answer was rather harsh, and couldn't help but feel a bit offended.

"Really? You're not even going to let me try?" she said, annoyed at Latios' apparent hypocrisy, "What happened to not doubting myself?"

"This has nothing to do with you. Well it does, but..."

As Latias' expression became increasingly vex, he decided it would be best to get to the point as soon as possible.

"Look, no matter how many times you try, you won't be able to do a Luster Purge. It's impossible. Only Latios can use that move. Sorry, there's nothing you can do."

"Oh..." she responded after a short moment, a hint of discontent in her voice.

"Don't worry," he reassured her, "Any other moves you've seen from me are fine, just not that one."

"Alright then, how about..." The sentence trailed off, and Latias looked stumped as she failed to come up with an answer. "You know what? How about you pick an attack, you probably know what's best better than I do."

"Well, okay. Let me think of something..."

Even if Latias had been capable of learning Luster Purge, he would've suggested something else anyway. Luster Purge was by no means an easy move to learn, he had learned from past experience. He thought that Latias should start with a more basic physical attack instead, as special attacks such as Luster Purge tended to be much more complicated if not downright more difficult to produce. It would also make things easier if the move had the same type match-up as her, and seeing as psychic and physical went together about as well as Zangoose and Seviper he wasn't left with much other choice.

"How about Dragon Claw?"

"Dragon Claw?" she repeated, interested, "I like the sound of that."

"I thought you might. Heard of it before?"

"The name sounds familiar, but that's about it. I'll guess it has something to do with claws?"

"Of course. Care for a demonstration?"

"Oh, yes! Definitely." she said in excited anticipation.

"Alright, I suppose we'll just practise on a tree." he said, hovering over to the nearest trunk that looked sturdy enough to withstand any punishment. Trees made good targets for physical attacks, assuming they were in healthy state. They were strong enough to hold up to most attacks without taking any serious damage, and the aftermath would be easily visible on the bark. Still, they had their drawbacks. He wouldn't want to practice a Zen Headbutt on a tree and any sort of fire attacks were out of the question, but for now it would suffice his needs.

Latias took a position next to him, making sure to keep some distance. She didn't want to be a victim of any collateral damage.

"Ready?" Latios asked.

"Whenever you are."

With that, Latios turned his focus to the target. He raised his right arm, planning for a diagonal strike downwards and from right to left. Now in an optimal position, his claws glowed a faint green hue as he prepared the attack. Then, in one fluid motion involving not only his arm but entire body, Latios swiped down at the mock prey. He felt a momentary resistance as his claws made contact and dug their way through the wood, which subsided once the attack had been delivered. Small pieces of shrapnel from the tree were scattered on the ground nearby, and the trunk was left with three parallel and linear indentations where his claws had slashed the bark. A single drop of sap leaked out of the middle cut, and began to trickle down the length of the tree.

"So, how was that?" he asked, hoping Latias had gotten the gist of the move out of his performance. He had purposely slowed down his movements compared to what they would've been during a battle, so she could see what was happening.

"That was great! I was a bit skeptical at the thought of you using bare claws against a tree, but you really did some damage!"

"Well, what kind of legendary would I be if I couldn't hold up to a tree?"

Latios' seemingly innocent statement immediately reminded Latias of herself. A legendary, that wouldn't even be able to hold up to a simple tree...

"Is...something wrong?" Latios asked upon seeing her change in expression, oblivious to her thoughts.

"No, nothing," she said, trying to clear her mind of any self-conscious thoughts. If there was ever an opportunity to start acting like a legendary, it was now. At least, it was a start. "So, you going to teach me how you did that?"

"Yep," Latios said with a nod, moving to the side so Latias could take his place, "It's not too difficult, just try and copy what I did."

"Okay," she agreed, taking Latios' previous position, "I have to ask though, did that hurt?"

"Hurt? Uh...why do you ask?"

"Well," she said uneasily, just having realized how wimpish her question had made her sound, "It's just...something about trying to claw through a tree doesn't seem very...pleasant."

"Of course it doesn't hurt," he answered, not paying nearly as much mind to the question as Latias was, "It wouldn't be a very effective attack if you hurt yourself in the process, now would it?"

"Guess not. So, do I just...take a swing?"

"Yeah, go ahead. We'll do the same thing as yesterday, when I was teaching you to hunt. As in, I'll see what you're doing right, what you're doing wrong, and try to give you some advice on how to improve. That seemed to work last time."

"Alright then. Here goes..."

Latias raised her right arm as she had seen Latios do earlier, and attempted to copy his maneuver as best she could. She swung at the target, bringing her arm down at a diagonal to try and deliver a stronger blow. Upon contact with the tree, her claws managed to pierce the bark but then immediately refused to move any further, remaining impaled in the wood. The sudden stop had triggered a jolt of pain that caused Latias to cry out briefly, warranting Latios' immediate concern.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked, trying to hide the worry in his voice. Latias didn't appear to be injured, but she could judge better than him.

"I...I think I'm fine, just hurt a little." she responded, the pain now only a dull ache that mildly intensified as she tried to pull her arm free. "I think I'm stuck though..."

Latios flew in for a closer look. All three claws had become almost entirely embedded into the tree, and appeared reluctant to give up their place. "You need some help?"

"Err...well, okay." she answered, mostly out of impulse.

With that, Latios grabbed hold of her paw and without any prior warning gave a sudden and forceful tug that managed to yank Latias' arm free.

"Ah!" she yelled, cringing slightly, "You could've told me you were going to do that!"

"Sorry," he said, examining each of her claws for any signs of damage, "Things like that are easier when you don't know they're coming."

Latias sighed. She wasn't going to argue, even if she didn't like it. After all, he had only done what he thought was best.

"Anyways, your paw looks fine, so that's good news." he said after a few seconds, with a subtle smile of relief.

"Told you I was fine..." she said, trying her best not to smile back, and failing to do so. She found it difficult to stay angry at him for any length of time.

"So...I take it that was a terrible attempt." she continued, changing the subject.

"Well, it wasn't-" He stopped abruptly for a moment, rethinking his words. "Okay, yeah, it was terrible. But it wasn't a complete disaster, your technique was fine up until the actual delivery of the attack."

"What did I do wrong then?"

"Your strike was much too direct. As in, you're trying to cut the tree, not stab it. Try swinging at a wider angle. Oh, and focus more on your claws. They're doing the actual damage, after all."

"Right. So...wider angle and focus?"

"Yep. Don't worry, I didn't fare much better in my first attempt, it's all practice. Want to try again?"

"Of course! Like you said, practice."

Latios was worried that the first attempt may have disconcerted her, and was glad to see that she was apparently undeterred.

"That's the spirit! Go ahead then."

With that, Latias set herself for another try and moved back into position in front of the tree. Her paw still ached, but not to the point where she thought it would be a problem. Still, the last thing she wanted to do was repeat the last attempt. With another raise of her arm, she swiped at the bark. She was surprised to have felt no resistance whatsoever during the attack, only then realizing she had missed the target completely, her claws having fallen short of their mark.

"Err...whoops."

"Missed. Your angle was better this time around though. Just try again."

Slightly embarrassed, but otherwise undiscouraged, she did as Latios suggested. Her next attempt proved more successful, as she managed to graze the surface of the tree, but only just. The result was two haphazard lines left on the bark where her claws had made contact, which looked pitifully mundane in comparison to the ones Latios had made earlier. They looked as if a Zigzagoon could have made them, not a dragon.

"There you go! Just like that!" Latios said, clearly more pleased about the hit than Latias.

"You kidding me? It looks pathetic."

"That's not the point," he assured her, "Practise your aim first, power won't get you anywhere if you don't hit the target. Try to do that again."

For the next few minutes Latias repeatedly took swipes at the target, improving on whatever criticisms Latios made as best she could. Slowly, her strikes got progressively better. She missed less, and her hits became more precise and controlled. Eventually, it got to the point where she would deliver a satisfactory attack about nine out of ten times.

"Alright, that's enough for now." Latios interrupted, right when Latias was about to take another swing. "I think you deserve a break, you're doing pretty well."

"I don't want to take a break," she said, close to panting from the prolonged exertion, "I'll keep trying until I get this right!" She struck the tree once again, adding another set of scars to its surface.

"Really? Well in that case..." Latios started, pleasantly surprised at her persistence, "Direct your focus to your claws, like I said before."

"What? How's that supposed to help?"

"A lot of attacks rely on the energy of the user for their strength, Dragon Claw being one of them."

"That sounds completely ridiculous." Latias said with scepticism.

"It's not ridiculous if it works. Did you notice how my claws glowed a faint green during my attack? You'll know you're doing it right if you can do the same. Try it."

Latias sighed, then turned her attention back to the tree. Her next attack was indistinguishable from her previous attempts, and the resulting scratches showed no more noticeable damage than before.

"And I'm supposed to believe sheer willpower is going to make my attack stronger?" she said in a disgruntled tone.

"You won't get anywhere if you don't. You're a psychic type anyways, so get used to it."

Latias exhaled loudly through her nose.

"Maybe you could use some rest." Latios suggested sympathetically.

"Well...alright, fine." she reluctantly agreed, lowering herself down onto the grass beneath her. She kept her head raised to still be able to see Latios, looking up at him with a defeated expression.

"You'll be in better condition for the next time you try. You hungry?"

Latias had been too occupied to pay any mind to it until now, but she had indeed gotten hungry. "Yeah, that would be nice."

"No problem, I'll go fetch something." Latios said smiling, glad he could be of service. "Be right back!"

And with that, Latios took off in a seemingly random direction to hunt for food, leaving Latias alone as he soon disappeared from view. Nothing but her and her thoughts, and the occasional cry of Pokémon off in the distance.

She looked back to the tree she had used for practise, and the dozens of shallow scratches she had bestowed upon it. Not once had she done the attack correctly, she hadn't even come close. Just off to the side were the three profound scratches Latios had made during his demonstration, the sap that had been leaking earlier now crystallized.

_He made it look so easy..._

She wondered how long it had taken Latios to learn the move. Had his first attempts been as futile as hers? Did it take him hours of trying over and over again, until he was able to do the damage she saw here? Or did he master the attack on his first few tries, with a minimal amount of effort? She wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter. Even if she wasn't consciously aware of it, she envied his abilities compared to her own. He was better than her in so many ways, it seemed that flying was the only ability they had in common and even then he flew faster than her. As a matter of fact, at the current moment he was fetching food for her, because she wouldn't be able to do that herself. In her mind, Latios represented everything a Lati should be, while she represented everything one should not be.

Latias stamped the ground with her paw, and let out a groan in frustration.

Still, despite this he appeared to have faith in her. He had patiently corrected her mistakes and simply told her to keep trying. Was his hope misplaced? It didn't seem like she was getting anywhere. Then again, hadn't he said that his first attempt was not much better than hers? And that it was all practise? Hadn't he told her to stop doubting herself, and that she was as much of a Latias as he was a Latios?

Maybe he hadn't fared much better then her when he had been trying to learn the move himself. Maybe he had struggled just as she did now. Maybe they weren't so different, he simply had more experience. Maybe he had hope in her because he knew that if he could do it, she could too. Maybe all she was missing was a little hope in herself.

Latias launched herself off the ground, darting towards the tree with her paw raised. She held nothing back as she took another strike at the bark, her claws facing surprisingly little resistance as they passed through the wood with ease. When she looked to the aftermath, she saw three clean cuts across the tree's surface that clearly dominated the ones she had made previously. She compared the marks to the ones Latios had made, and saw that they were at about the same depth. Or were hers deeper? It was hard to tell. She couldn't help but smile with simple content at the sight.

She turned and was slightly startled to find that Latios had been watching from nearby. Though she couldn't see his mouth on account of the limp Zigzagoon between his teeth, she could tell from his eyes that there was an unmistakable grin on his face.

* * *

Apologies to any Zigzagoon fans. I have nothing against Zigzagoon (I actually quite like em), it's just that they seem like such typical prey.

Oh yea, I also have a deviantART account now! Link is on my profile page. There's not much to see there at the moment, but I hope to recreate a few of my favourite scenes from the story (among other things) using what little artistic talent I have. In fact, I'm working on a scene from Chapter 4 at the moment...but for now it's too early to say anything else.

And I've changed my alias to CyanCosine, sorry if that confused anyone.


	9. Chapter 9: Part 1

Ok, I screwed up. I'm going out of the country for two weeks (today, actually) and as it so happens I just found out I won't be taking my laptop with me like I had planned. As a result, I can't finish chapter nine until I get back. To compensate, I'll release it in two parts so you'll at least have something to read. I'll finish the other part sometime after getting back, and then merge the two once chapter ten is finished. And I'll also give chapter nine a proper title...

So, yea. Short chapter, but don't let that stop you from enjoying it.

* * *

"Hey Latios, can I ask you something?"

Latias had finished her meal and was laid against a tree reading her book, while Latios was busy finishing his own food nearby. He had wanted Latias to have the Zigzagoon all to herself, so while she was eating he had caught a Mantyke to satisfy his own hunger, hence why Latias had finished before him.

"Sure, what is it?" he said, taking a pause from his food to look up at her.

"Well," she started, looking down at the pages in front of her, "It says here Lati can shift their feathers to refract light, and can use this to change their appearance or even go completely invisible. I'm having a hard time believing that...is that true?"

To her surprise, when she looked back from her book to where Latios had been only seconds ago he was nowhere to be seen. "Uh...Latios?"

"Yes?" she heard him say from right beside her, where she hadn't been looking. The voice alone had made her jump, but when she looked to the side and saw a red Lati as opposed to the familiar blue one she squealed and immediately took off in the opposite direction. Once she felt that she had gotten a safe distance away she spun back around so that she was facing the other Latias, who was laughing hysterically but had otherwise not moved from her previous position.

"You should, should of, should of seen your face!" the Latias said between fits of laughter, the voice sounding very familiar.

"Okay, Latios. Joke's over, you got me." she said with a sigh.

Latios continued to giggle as he was momentarily engulfed in a blinding white light, which then subsided to reveal him in his true form. "Does that answer your question?"

"Yeah, but I would have preferred a simple yes as opposed to you nearly giving me a heart attack!"

"Aw, c'mon. Just having a little fun..." Though his giggling had subsided, he still couldn't help but keep a smirk on his face.

"You've got to tell me how you did that. Neat trick." She said, smiling along with Latios in spite of herself.

"Don't worry, you'll learn eventually."

Latios eyed Latias' book on the grass nearby, which she had accidentally dropped during her maneuver. He picked it up between his paws and examined it for a moment, before flying up to Latias and handing it back to her.

"You know," he started, "Pidgeotto would be furious if a page got bent or something, you really ought to be more careful."

Latias took the book from him, and proceeded to playfully hit him in the arm with it.

"You're the one who made me drop it! And why are you in such a stupidly good mood? Or are you always like this?"

"Ah hey, no need to get violent." he said while rubbing his arm, "I'm just happy, I guess."

"And why are you so happy?"

"What, I can't be happy?" he answered with a grin.

"That's not what I...ugh, nevermind." she said, having given up.

"Hey," she started again after a short pause, "You think we could go visit the town?"

"Of course, I was planning on heading there anyway. Just let me finish eating first."

"Alright then."

With that, Latios returned to his half-eaten meal while Latias reopened and read her book to pass the time.

As he ate, Latios watched as her amber-coloured eyes drift from left to right and back again, scanning the text. How could he not be happy, given the circumstances? With Latias around, he felt happier than he had in a long time. Though he had other friends, being with Latias was different. It was as if she filled some sort of void inside him, that he hadn't even realized existed until he had met her. Maybe part of it was because they were both of the same species. Despite having only known her for a short time, he felt their confessions that night had brought them closer than he was with many others that he had known for years.

Thinking about the previous night, he remembered the insults he had spat at her. He still felt terrible over them, almost wincing at the memory. He had been wrong to judge her, and seeing her pull off a successful Dragon Claw in a fraction of the time it had taken him to do so only affirmed that fact. She wasn't faulty, just inexperienced. He was actually immensely proud of her success and thought he should congratulate her, having not done so already.

Suddenly, Latias drew in a quick breath of air and proceeded to sneeze. In that moment where her focused reading had been briefly disrupted, she managed to catch Latios' gaze from the corner of her eye.

"What?" she asked after returning the stare for a couple seconds.

"Uh, nothing." Latios replied, quickly looking back to his food only to notice that there was none left.

Latias made a subtle shrug to herself before she went back to reading, paying no mind to Latios.

"Well...actually, there is something." he started, once again drawing Latias' attention.

"Hm?"

"You know, you did a really good job with that Dragon Claw earlier. I'm proud of you, you learned it in almost no time at all! Even faster than me..."

Latias' face immediately lit up. He was proud of her! Of something that she'd done, and done even better than him!

"Aw, thanks." she said somewhat shyly, being flattered. "I'm glad you think so!"

Latios allowed himself an appreciative smile back, before continuing.

"That said, being able to produce an attack consistently during a battle is a bit more difficult than being able to do so once against a sitting target. So practise whenever you can!"

"I will!" she said with a small nod.

"Good to hear it. Now, you wanted to visit Dewpoint?"

"Yeah," she affirmed, noticing that there was nothing left of Latios' meal, "You ready to leave?"

"Yep. Let's get going then."

Latios made a little nod with his head, gesturing towards the general position of the town before taking off in said direction. Latias soon followed, book still in hand, and took her place just off to the right of Latios.

"So, why do you want to come visit the town? I mean, any specific reason?" Latios asked after about a quarter of the way to their destination.

"Hm, not really. I kind of just want to look around the place, we didn't stay very long last time."

"No problem, I think I'll head over to the library myself."

"What for?" Latias asked.

"Another book."

Latias continued to eye him quizzically, not entirely satisfied with the vague answer.

"You'll see." Latios said.

Convinced that she wasn't going to get any more out of him, she turned her attention back forward. She noticed there was a puffy white mass not too far ahead, directly in the way of their flight path. Latios didn't seem to pay any mind to the cloud they were heading for, but the prospect of being blind while they were passing through it made her slightly uneasy.

"Uh, do you usually...fly through clouds?" she asked nervously.

"Whenever I can, actually. Don't worry, it's pretty nice."

"Well, okay..." she said, putting her trust in Latios' confidence.

She flew up closer to Latios in order not to lose him, and within seconds they had entered the dense fog that was the cloud. It was an interesting sensation, Latias thought. The air was moist and at the speed she was moving drops of water slowly condensed on the surface of her feathers, only to be whisked away by the air passing by her. It was a refreshing and brisk feeling, and she couldn't help but close her eyes in the moment.

Before long, Latias could feel that she had exited the cloud and opened her eyes. She had since drifted slightly to the right from where she was facing before, and made a quick correction left to compensate and realign herself with Latios.

"You were right," she said to him, "That was nice."

Latios only gave her quick a smirk, before returning his gaze to their destination.

Not long after, they had gotten close enough to Dewpoint to make out individual Pokémon going about their daily business. A Croconaw picked fruits from a tree before putting them into a leather satchel it wore, a Larvitar was chatted with a Buizel under the shade of a house, a Politoed appeared to water a garden for a Togetic, the usual. As they neared, some few Pokémon noticed the two flying and waved, to which Latios waved back while Latias didn't seem to notice.

"Hey, which building is the clinic again?" she asked. "I want to pay a visit there."

"It's that one." Latios answered, pointing. "Why?"

"I just think it would be interesting to see what the place is like."

"Fair enough. I'll be heading over to the library then, and meet back up with you later. Shouldn't take me too long."

"Okay, see ya."

With that, Latios parted ways from Latias via a sharp left turn, and began his descent towards the familiar building that they had been to just yesterday.

* * *

Mostly filler, but I hope it was at least entertaining filler.


End file.
